Stolen Gear

"One4All" wrote:

I support gun control, vigorously, but I think I might pack some iron
in a shoulder holster when I'm out, alone, in an isolated part of a
national park, with my head under a focusing hood. [...]

I don't care what the law is. I am not about to be offed by some low-life
who doesn't care about "the law". When I travel, I pack. So I'll deal with
the outcome, if there is one, at the time. I love life. Let 'em bust an old
man for not wanting to be a victim.

"Greg "_"" wrote in message
...

Good - because what's needed is direct confrontation ([...])

Anyone who is considering packing a firearm MUST read Massad Ayoob's book,
"In the Gravest Extreme". It might change their mind.

Never pull a firearm on someone unless you have every intention of shooting
them dead, right now, on the spot, in extreme prejudice. Shoot until out.
Then be prepared for a nightmare.

In article .com,
One4All wrote:

I support gun control, vigorously, but I think I might pack some iron
in a shoulder holster when I'm out, alone, in an isolated part of a
national park

And when you get caught by a ranger you'll be spending some time
in jail with all those "punks" you rant about.

wrote:
In article .com,
One4All wrote:

I support gun control, vigorously, but I think I might pack some iron
in a shoulder holster when I'm out, alone, in an isolated part of a
national park

And when you get caught by a ranger you'll be spending some time
in jail with all those "punks" you rant about.

I'm just remembering that about 20 years ago, rangers started carrying
firearms, due to increasing lawlessness in the parks. It was news at
the time. Up until then, there was no need for firearms. This was
unsettling to me. Since then, there have been stories about people
being bushwhacked in the parks, and I don't know what the "crime rate"
in the parks is. Maybe someone has an answer or a link to an answer.

It's good to know that I could get in trouble, because you indicate
rangers must be ubiquitous in national parks. If that's the case, I'm
paranoiac, and don't need to be overly concerned about my personal
safety, which is a different issue from equipment safety, altho the two
are linked because criminals want your equipment, and will beat you up,
or worse, to get it.

The OP cited the case of a photographer who turned his back on his car
for just a minute or two & got ripped off. Yes, if he'd left his car,
windows rolled down, equipment exposed, etc., & went into the visitor
center for an hour, then he doesn't deserve sympathy. But, it's
disheartening the degree of desperation so many have come to that they
have refined their larcenous techniques that they can steal from a car,
with the owner present. My original pickpocket analogy is appropriate.

I'm opposed to guns because they can be deadlier to the owner than to
the aggressor. I have air-conditioning in my car, so I can leave my
windows rolled up & I never leave anything of possible value easily
visible in my car, even in local parking lots. I have little sympathy
for people who don't lock their cars and leave handbags, etc., in plain
sight overnight.

I'll make my trip to these parks & I'll take pictures as I plan,
without a gun, and I'll follow my usual security routine. But, again,
as one who remembers more innocent times, at least in national parks,
it's sad one has to be in a security mode at every turn. It's a kind of
9/11. I could go on & on.

"One4All" wrote

I'm opposed to guns because they can be deadlier to the owner than to the
aggressor.

Let the owners worry about that.

2 spake thus:

"One4All" wrote

I'm opposed to guns because they can be deadlier to the owner than to the
aggressor.

Let the owners worry about that.

I suspect he's right, that it's ultimately more dangerous to the owner
than anyone. And I also suspect that in your case it's more talk than
action. Do you pack?

I've considered it, living in a rough neighborhood and having been
robbed by a gang of "youf" right in front of where I live. But with my
luck, if I had a gun, I'd just get shot with it.


--
I hope that in a few years it [Wikipedia] will be so bloated that it
will simply disintegrate, because I can't stand the thought that this
thing might someday actually be used as a serious reference source.
Because in its current form, it's not to be taken seriously at all.

- Horst Prillinger (see
http://homepage.univie.ac.at/horst.p...06/000623.html)

"One4All" wrote.

I'm just remembering that about 20 years ago, rangers started carrying
firearms, due to increasing lawlessness in the parks. It was news at
the time. Up until then, there was no need for firearms.

Ah, it goes back a bit farther:

Around the mid sixties the park ranger service got 'demilitarized':
no guns, no red and blue lights on the car, no siren ... and the
parks were really nice places to be; it was like being in London
in the old days, you knew if someone yelled 'Help! Police!' it
wasn't because the police were attacking: "Help! Police!
Help! It's the Police!"

But:

Around the mid sixties the Haight moved to Yosemite's meadows
and made -- well, they made just about everything you didn't want
made in a National Park: noise, trash, theivery, drugs, violence,
obscenity ... - all the accoutrements of 'Liberating
it from the Man, man."

So:

Around the mid sixties the park ranger service got
milatarized: guns, red and blue lights on the car, sirens ...
and the parks weren't so nice anymore.

In some parks it took 20-30 years for shotguns and flashing
lights to (re)appear on ranger cars.

Nicholas O. Lindan wrote:
"One4All" wrote.

I'm just remembering that about 20 years ago, rangers started carrying
firearms, due to increasing lawlessness in the parks. It was news at
the time. Up until then, there was no need for firearms.

Ah, it goes back a bit farther:

Around the mid sixties the park ranger service got 'demilitarized':
no guns, no red and blue lights on the car, no siren ... and the
parks were really nice places to be; it was like being in London
in the old days, you knew if someone yelled 'Help! Police!' it
wasn't because the police were attacking: "Help! Police!
Help! It's the Police!"

But:

Around the mid sixties the Haight moved to Yosemite's meadows
and made -- well, they made just about everything you didn't want
made in a National Park: noise, trash, theivery, drugs, violence,
obscenity ... - all the accoutrements of 'Liberating
it from the Man, man."

So:

Around the mid sixties the park ranger service got
milatarized: guns, red and blue lights on the car, sirens ...
and the parks weren't so nice anymore.

In some parks it took 20-30 years for shotguns and flashing
lights to (re)appear on ranger cars.

I assume I'm talking to LF photographers who are shooting, and will
continue to shoot (no pun), in national parks. What do you do,
security-wise, to go on a shoot in a national park, beyond the
precautions I've already stated: Leave car windows rolled up, lock the
car, & keep objects of value out of sight. When you go out there,
alone, with few or not any people around, what is your attitude,
security-wise? Has your attitude changed in the past few years, whether
being more apprehensive, or less apprehensive? Are you confident in
park enforcement? Or, am I just paranoiac?

Nicholas O. Lindan wrote:
"One4All" wrote.

I'm just remembering that about 20 years ago, rangers started carrying
firearms, due to increasing lawlessness in the parks. It was news at
the time. Up until then, there was no need for firearms.

Ah, it goes back a bit farther:

Around the mid sixties the park ranger service got 'demilitarized':
no guns, no red and blue lights on the car, no siren ... and the
parks were really nice places to be; it was like being in London
in the old days, you knew if someone yelled 'Help! Police!' it
wasn't because the police were attacking: "Help! Police!
Help! It's the Police!"

But:

Around the mid sixties the Haight moved to Yosemite's meadows
and made -- well, they made just about everything you didn't want
made in a National Park: noise, trash, theivery, drugs, violence,
obscenity ... - all the accoutrements of 'Liberating
it from the Man, man."

So:

Around the mid sixties the park ranger service got
milatarized: guns, red and blue lights on the car, sirens ...
and the parks weren't so nice anymore.

In some parks it took 20-30 years for shotguns and flashing
lights to (re)appear on ranger cars.

I assume I'm talking to LF photographers who are shooting, and will
continue to shoot (no pun), in national parks. What do you do,
security-wise, to go on a shoot in a national park, beyond the
precautions I've already stated: Leave car windows rolled up, lock the
car, & keep objects of value out of sight. When you go out there,
alone, with few or not any people around, what is your attitude,
security-wise? Has your attitude changed in the past few years, whether
being more apprehensive, or less apprehensive? Are you confident in
park enforcement? Or, am I just paranoiac?

Like I've said, I'm going to photograph in these parks & probably
nothing will happen, but I'm going to be alert, anyway.

One4All wrote:

: Nicholas O. Lindan wrote:
: "One4All" wrote.
:
: I'm just remembering that about 20 years ago, rangers started carrying
: firearms, due to increasing lawlessness in the parks. It was news at
: the time. Up until then, there was no need for firearms.
:
: Ah, it goes back a bit farther:
:
: Around the mid sixties the park ranger service got 'demilitarized':
: no guns, no red and blue lights on the car, no siren ... and the
: parks were really nice places to be; it was like being in London
: in the old days, you knew if someone yelled 'Help! Police!' it
: wasn't because the police were attacking: "Help! Police!
: Help! It's the Police!"
:
: But:
:
: Around the mid sixties the Haight moved to Yosemite's meadows
: and made -- well, they made just about everything you didn't want
: made in a National Park: noise, trash, theivery, drugs, violence,
: obscenity ... - all the accoutrements of 'Liberating
: it from the Man, man."
:
: So:
:
: Around the mid sixties the park ranger service got
: milatarized: guns, red and blue lights on the car, sirens ...
: and the parks weren't so nice anymore.
:
: In some parks it took 20-30 years for shotguns and flashing
: lights to (re)appear on ranger cars.

: I assume I'm talking to LF photographers who are shooting, and will
: continue to shoot (no pun), in national parks. What do you do,
: security-wise, to go on a shoot in a national park, beyond the
: precautions I've already stated: Leave car windows rolled up, lock the
: car, & keep objects of value out of sight. When you go out there,
: alone, with few or not any people around, what is your attitude,
: security-wise? Has your attitude changed in the past few years, whether
: being more apprehensive, or less apprehensive? Are you confident in
: park enforcement? Or, am I just paranoiac?

: Like I've said, I'm going to photograph in these parks & probably
: nothing will happen, but I'm going to be alert, anyway.

I grew up in Chicago. All the above precautions are instinctive to me.
--




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