High Sierra Topix

SAR is run by the Sheriff of the county, right? Not trying to argue the point but if you see someone, you cant really hunt them down and keep track?

That could mean nothing. How many Sheriffs officers were in the immediate area? Do you know that? How many SAR in general were there to witness the incident and could have (if they were armed?) taken chase?? MY point is, your disappointment is likely armchair QB, premature judgement of what was unquestionably a unique situation.

If you are a volunteer confronted by someone with a gun, you DO NOT engage them, you LEAVE, calling for a deputy if the radio works. Safety is the top priority.

In some of the remote gnarly off trail areas, you don't have a lot of options. Sometimes teams of volunteers have no deputy with them as seems to be the case here. We were encouraged to get a CC permit and have a sidearm but that is the choice of each volunteer, not a mandate, because again, volunteers are NOT officers and are instructed not to act like one.

I agree with Eric. This seems quite rare to me.

AlmostThere wrote:If you are a volunteer confronted by someone with a gun, you DO NOT engage them, you LEAVE, calling for a deputy if the radio works. Safety is the top priority.

In some of the remote gnarly off trail areas, you don't have a lot of options. Sometimes teams of volunteers have no deputy with them as seems to be the case here. We were encouraged to get a CC permit and have a sidearm but that is the choice of each volunteer, not a mandate, because again, volunteers are NOT officers and are instructed not to act like one.

Would you need a CCW if in the wilderness?

You need to follow the gun laws of the state you are in.

The thing is, that gun, if you are to use it effectively, by definition can't be concealed -- it needs to be in your hand or at your hip, to respond to some urgent situation you find yourself in. The CC is necessary if you intend to have it on your person but not obvious.

I never bothered to carry, and never do, and never will. That's my choice, and now that I am not SAR and unlikely to either be tracking a felon or happening across the grows (those tend to be below treeline, way off trail, not where I go to backpack) I feel absolutely no need whatsoever to have one.

There were design changes to our uniform, among them changes to patches, in progress when I resigned -- we were taking off anything that meant we might be mistaken for officers. There is more risk to being law enforcement in some locales.

AT.. Not in SAR anymore? A loss. and if i do carry, it's on my hip (I don't do that a lot because not a lot to hurt me out there, except black pipe), or during hunting season on my chest. Yes, hunting license.