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I had to get my car towed while out hiking a few months back. As I was chit-chatting with the tow truck driver, we got on the subject of work. I thought he was
by notJim 8y ago
I had to get my car towed while out hiking a few months back. As I was chit-chatting with the tow truck driver, we got on the subject of work. I thought he was joking when he told me his time working as a park ranger was the most stressful period of his life. This was after him telling me that being a tow truck driver meant being woken up in the early morning hours to go on a multi-hour driver multiple times per week, especially when the conditions were bad.
It turned out he'd been a park ranger at a state park in a rougher, rural part of the state. He told me me that large groups of teenagers would hang out in the park in the summer. They'd get drunk and start these massive brawls with each other out in the woods, and my tow truck driver would be the only person around to respond, often in the early hours of the morning. Budget cuts meant he was the only one of course, and local police weren't going to bother driving way out to the park. He seemed like a genuinely compassionate person, but he said a lot of the time, he'd just have to let the fights happen because he was so outnumbered he couldn't break them up. He told me he only lasted a few months.
- r00fus 8y agoA classic case of defunding the public good. Another related problem was the change in policy to allow guns in public parks - a very perverse interpretation of the 2nd amendment that just made park rangers' life more dangerous without any real benefit to 99% of the population.
- nerdponx 8y agoJust look at how useless the park ranger are! We should just the whole program.
- tonyztan 8y agoI think the right to self defense is especially important in places where law enforcement cannot respond quickly and effectively. Whereas the police can respond in minutes in a densely populated city, the same cannot be said in the middle of a rural park. A person should be allowed to defend themself, with a firearm if necessary, when faced with a deadly threat. The policy you mentioned only allows people to carry a firearm if they are otherwise allowed to carry a gun in public according to state law. This means they cannot be a convicted felon or otherwise disqualified, and in most states they are also required to have a concealed carry permit: https://www.nps.gov/articles/firearms-in-national-parks.htm https://www.nps.gov/articles/firearms-in-national-parks.htm
- rb666 8y agoThis is such a nonsensical (mostly American) argument that 99% of the rest of the planet is unable to follow. Why should you need a gun for self-defense? If your "opponent" also brings a gun (or a knife), sure you may have a chance. But if they bring an RPG, should you also be allowed to bring your RPG to the park? The only way to get out of this arms race is to get rid of your toys. You know, like it's done in the civilized world...
- cdoxsey 8y agoA gun is more effective and practical than a knife or an RPG. It is easy to use, relatively safe and reliable, affordable and easy to carry. In a very rural area not every threat is a person, for example a bear, and guns aren't exactly exotic technology. They've been around for hundreds of years. Trying to put the cat back in the bag is hopeless. In particular in the US there are more guns than people. Attempting to confiscate all those guns would inevitably fail and likely lead to massive civil unrest. It would also fail to prevent criminals from still having access to guns. Perhaps an arms-race is unfortunate but unilateral disarmament on one side is not a practical solution to the problem. FWIW the US is not the only country where citizens are allowed to have guns. Look at Switzerland for an example.
- sjwright 8y agoOnly someone who didn’t understand Swiss gun culture would make that comparison.
- cdoxsey 8y agoCitizens in Switzerland are permitted to own guns: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_laws_in_Switzerland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_laws_in_Switzerland
- sjwright 8y agoYes, permitted. You need a license, which is something that can be denied for a multitude of common reasons. Gun ownership in Switzerland is taken seriously and very heavily regulated. And the same goes for bullet ownership. Read your wikipedia link; it reads nothing like what anyone in the USA would recognise. Relative to the USA status quo, Swiss gun laws are like a far left socialist wet dream. No electable left-wing politician would ever imagine being able to get one tenth of Swiss-style laws passed in the USA.
- sneak 8y agoPeople who would shoot at park rangers would not be deterred by such a prohibition, so the change does not make them any less safe. It does, however, make normal park-goers a lot safer.
- dfsegoat 8y agoAre you serious? Have you spent any time ON YOUR OWN in a place like Rocky Mountain National Park, in Colorado? For one, there is the wildlife factor: Bears and moose are dangerous. Secondly, National forests are a very important component of public lands for hunting: I for one find it awesome that I can stock 1 year worth of organic, grass-fed meat from legally harvesting an Elk on state or national forest land [1]. Finally, hunters - with our firearms and ammunition purchases - actually supply the bulk of $$$ that go towards maintaining public lands and wildlife [2]. You are welcome! 1 - https://www.fs.fed.us/visit/know-before-you-go/hunting https://www.fs.fed.us/visit/know-before-you-go/hunting 2 - https://www.npr.org/2018/03/20/593001800/decline-in-hunters-threatens-how-u-s-pays-for-conservation https://www.npr.org/2018/03/20/593001800/decline-in-hunters-...
- razster 8y agoSame issue with California's Whiskey town. We have a lot of portable meth labs roaming the woods and trails, and only 2 rangers patrolling a huge swatch of land. They do not last long.