Carrying gun while camping on AT

[drewlwsn]

Does anyone know if it's legal to carry a bear gun (or shotgun w/ slugs) on or near the Appalachian Trail? Going on a random one-night camping trip and just wondering if I can legally carry in case of bears. Will have bear spray but would like to take my shotgun also if possible. Thanks in advance.

[Yarddawg]

From the Appalachian trail website http://www.appalachiantrail.org/hiking/ ... asics/faqs

Can I carry a gun?
ATC strongly discourages hikers from carrying firearms: Most experienced A.T. hikers consider them impractical and unnecessary, and encountering an armed stranger makes many people uncomfortable. To legally carry a firearm on the Trail, you must meet the permitting standards of the state and locality in which you are hiking. On national-park lands, discharging a firearm is illegal, even if you have a legal permit to carry it. Extra efforts may be required to secure weapons in towns to abide by local ordinances and private-property owners' rules. (Firearm rules vary by land ownership. The Trail crosses 14 states and more than 90 state, federal, or local agency lands, with each having its own rules and regulations; you are responsible for knowing and following those rules.) In areas of the Trail corridor where hunting is legal, hikers may see hunters carrying firearms. Hunters must abide by their own set of firearm rules, somewhat separate from firearm-carry rules but also varying by state and county.

[Reverenddel]

"ATC strongly discourages hikers from carrying firearms: Most experienced A.T. hikers consider them impractical and unnecessary, and encountering an armed stranger makes many people uncomfortable."

Especially the Serial Killers on the A/T. Yup! Just ruins their plans when the possible victim is PACKING!

[TenchCoxe]

Notice that the "answer" doesn't actually, really answer the question "can I carry a gun on the AT"?

OK, we get it that "ATC strongly discourages hikers from carrying firearms." Fine. but the answer to the question is buried in that pargraph, which overall is designed to discourage you from doing so. Specifically: "To legally carry a firearm on the Trail, you must meet the permitting standards of the state and locality in which you are hiking."

So instead of that rambling paragraph, all they had to say was: "When you are on the AT, you are subject to the firearms regulations and limitations of the state and locality within which you hiking."

[VBshooter]

Are bears in season?? may be worth it to get a hunting license. no matter what;s in season...?? Then no issues!

[TenchCoxe]

Not necessarily - if you claim you're hunting, then you're subject to all the various hunting regulations. This could include limits on what kind of gun you're carrying, what kind of ammo it's loaded with, how many rounds it holds, etc. If you meet the local requirements for just carrrying a gun, then you're just carrying a gun as allowed. Unless, of course, you're on the stretch of the AT that goes through NJ (part of which I used to hike) - then you're SOL.

[user]

Just make sure you know where the state boundaries are, and stay in the civilized world (Virginia).