Lawmakers again consider bill to arm Maine forest rangers

[Zincwarrior]

Makes no difference to me, I feel like a firearm is required gear when working in the woods. There's enough whackos and natural dangers present to make it a good option regardless of one's duties. JMO.

Seconded. If they are doing maintenance, burns and planting, they are at risk of stumbling on something bad out there. Like Peally, I grew up with everyone being armed in the country, much less in bonafide wilderness areas. But hey I also grew up thinking, sneaking up on a bull and then being chased was just a nice afternoon pastime.

Different strokes for different folks.

[Warped Mindless]

Makes no difference to me, I feel like a firearm is required gear when working in the woods. There's enough whackos and natural dangers present to make it a good option regardless of one's duties. JMO.

Amen.

I'm shocked, and a little angry, they arent issued a firearm.

[iWander]

But hey I also grew up thinking, sneaking up on a bull and then being chased was just a nice afternoon pastime.

Different strokes for different folks.

Yup. Great memories with minimal scars as reminders![emoji57]

[JDD]

Maine is my one of my favorite places to vacation. My wife and I talk about moving there. ( if I was super rich I'd summer in Maine and winter in the Texas hill country) but I am often dumbfounded by the stupid I read in the newspaper when I visit. The southern coast is infested with non native liberals and the rest of the state is not doing well economically.
I would guess that the problem here is a lack of money combined with southern maines distaste for firearms. I remember my disgust when they managered to get spring bear hunting on the ballot. Anybody who has ever lived with bears in their backyard knows they are no joke. But people think teddy bear and want to interfere with science based wildlife management.
Sorry for the rant. I haven't had enough coffee this morning

We have repeatedly shown that this is not a Mainer driven exercise. The bear baiting (among other brilliant things) came from out of state, was funded from out of state, and primarily pushed by out of state advocates.

All three candidates for governor that year opposed it, as well as most of the candidates for U.S. Senate and House. Not to mention the two main newspapers in the state (neither of which can be said to skew conservative). While its supporters were pretty exclusively liberal, I would say that the spectrum of politics in Maine is somewhat orthogonal to broader liberal/conservative range...

It was a dumb idea generated by the good idea fairy from away!

[Hambo]

Seconded. If they are doing maintenance, burns and planting, they are at risk of stumbling on something bad out there.

I'm not saying there isn't a risk (mainly that would be running into poachers/homeless/whoever), just that rangers here aren't LE and most don't want to be LE. Most of the rangers have degrees in biology, botany, conservation, or geology. Different people, different mindset, totally different risk assessment.

[psalms144.1]

I'm not saying there isn't a risk (mainly that would be running into poachers/homeless/whoever), just that rangers here aren't LE and most don't want to be LE. Most of the rangers have degrees in biology, botany, conservation, or geology. Different people, different mindset, totally different risk assessment.

Same with teachers, but there are some who are willing to go all in and learn the use of defensive weapons in order to be able to protect the children in their care. I see this as a similar situation. Got a Ranger who wants to be armed, and can pass required training and qualification standards - rock on! Got a Ranger who really just loves being out in nature and teaching people about trees and shit - great - keep him/her in a controlled area working with visitors. Doesn't have to be an all or nothing thing, in my book.

Just because Rangers aren't LE doesn't remove their inherent right of self defense. Just like every other person in the world...

[Peally]

It doesn't have to be forced on everyone either. Nothing wrong with a gun rack in the park HQ; the receptionist can keep handing out maps and the guy that needs to hike 12 miles to fix up a cabin can grab a rifle/handgun.