Staff Photo by Meghan Brown -- Chattanooga resident Monica Dobbs, standing near her home, hikes 100 miles of the Appalachian Trail each year and carries a handgun for protection while hiking.
Posted on 05/07/2008 8:01:41 AM PDT by neverdem
East Brainerd resident Monica Dobbs hikes 100 miles of the Appalachian Trail every winter with friends and craves the quiet days without cell phones, television and work.
Hikers who want to leave their daily lives behind sleep next to strangers in shelters, and many trade their real names for trail names. They sometimes can walk two or three days to find a town or a phone.
While leaving society behind is refreshing, being alone in the woods also can be terrifying.
“It’s an invitation for a disaster,” said Ms. Dobbs, a 28-year-old hairdresser, who plans to take a 9 mm handgun with her on her next trek.
“I think you should be allowed to legally carry a weapon for defense purposes. If someone comes after me, what am I going to do?” she said.
Guns have been restricted from some national parks for more than 100 years, except for hunting areas. However, there is a growing interest in easing the restrictions. U.S. Department of the Interior officials have proposed bringing federal gun restrictions in line with state laws. If approved, the change would allow hikers to carry loaded concealed weapons in some national parks.
Though crime in America’s national parks has decreased in the last 10 years, 384 incidents including killings, rapes, robberies, kidnappings and aggravated assaults occurred in national parks in 2006, according to the National Park Service.
In January a 24-year-old woman, Meredith Emerson, was found bludgeoned to death on a North Georgia section of the Appalachian Trail, and the killer has been linked to other park slayings.
Since 1973, 10 killings and 10 rapes have been reported on or around the 2,176-mile-long Appalachian Trail, which comprises 40 percent national park land, 40 percent national forest land and 20 percent state land, said Brian King, spokesman for the...
(Excerpt) Read more at timesfreepress.com ...
Good for her. I’m just getting into backpacking in the last year or so. On our last trip, two of the three adults were armed. The third left his in the car because he didn’t have the space in his pack. My new backpack has a nifty little pocket near the water bottle holder that perfectly fits my 9mm.
The USNPS is exactly correct in allowing concealed carry in our parks
Finger off the trigger, I see. Nice to see someone who knows how to hold a gun.
Not Guilty.
If she hears the word Lewinsky one more time.....
Must have. Else you are ‘Code White’ in a ‘this is not heaven’ world.
Nice to see a woman who knows how to hold a pistol also. :-)
We were driving on a paved highway bordering Blackwater State Forest when I left the paved road to answer the call of nature. I got stuck in the clay and had to wait several hours for a tow. During the time I was stuck, two drunks who had dumped a stolen car in the state forest came by and decided to carjack me with a big stick. I placed my 357 magnum on dash of the car and they left without any more problems.
I've also encountered Black Bears in the Smoky Mountain Park. Shortly after our visit a woman was killed by a bear.
I used to live in suburban Atlanta and would hike the AT in north Georgia frequently. I never saw a woman that attractive on or near the trail.
There’s a nice looking-lady who knows how to hold a Walther PPK/S. I’d like to show her mine.
That’s a PPK/S. I guess you could call it a 9mm (as reporter did). .380 is as large as they get, I think.
There was another sexual assault on the Trail a month ago.
I've seen my share of good lookin' wimminfolks on the trail.
Oh, yes: Armed?
Don't ask, don't tell. Concealed means nobody knows you have it.
Good for them. Having hiked some of those trails myself I always wondered if the women traveling alone had the means to protect themselves. I typically took a pistol with me if I was hiking alone.
guess they meant 9 mm kurz .
You should hike in Colorado. The scenery is excellent;)
Anyone know Ms Dobb’s adress or phone number?
Article says 9mm, and the photo looks like a PPK (usually .32ACP or .380). Not my choice, but if she can place shots, more power to her.
It would be simplest to make the Second Amendment the law of the land....oh wait, it is!
Arm the womenfolk!
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