Guns vs grizzly bears - new federal law allows guns in national parks

The AP via USA Today reports on a new federal law that allows people to carry guns into national parks.

The law was focused on Second Amendment rights to bear arms as opposed to warding off attacking grizzly bears.

Proponents claim that the guns will help protect them against the advent of a bear attack. Park service biologists claim that guns and grizzlies together equal dead grizzlies and that less deadly methods to ward of bears should be used. Other park service workers say that only time will tell about the consequences of the new law.

Grizzlies are the undisputed bosses of the backcountry in [Grand Teton, Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks]. They've killed 10 people in Glacier and five in Yellowstone in the past century. Those parks average one grizzly attack with injuries a year. Grand Teton has had only a handful of attacks, and no deaths, but it's only had substantial numbers of grizzlies for the past decade or so.

Wyoming, Idaho and Montana are home to roughly 1,300 grizzlies. Their numbers have rebounded since the 1970s and, although grizzlies still are listed as a threatened species, it's no longer rare for one lolling roadside to jam up tourist traffic in Grand Teton, Yellowstone or Glacier.

Park rangers in [the three parks] are still telling visitors that a pressurized can of hot-pepper oil — bear spray — is their best defense.

Their reasoning? Studies show that in most cases, putting a cloud of bear spray in a grizzly's face works better than trying to stop a moving 400-pound animal with a perfectly placed bullet.

"You've got to be a really good shot with a gun," said Yellowstone bear biologist Kerry Gunther. "That's the beauty of bear spray. You don't really have to aim it. All you have to do is pull it and pull the trigger."

Read the full story: New law pits guns against grizzlies in national parks

Photo by David Grubbs / AP