July camping trip - gun laws?

[sierratangofoxtrotunion]

A s-ton of friends and I are going up to a lake in the foothills this July to go camping. There'll be fire, and boats, and food, and tents... and guns. Off the top of my head, it seems to me I remember that it's ok to open carry or concealed carry, loaded, in your campsite, because the "in your house is ok" rule crosses over to campsites. What's the deal with guns out in the forest? I THINK it's national forest all around us, but I'd have to double check. On last year's trip I asked the rangers, they said we could go target shoot and stuff as long as we weren't shooting towards or near a trail or road or the lake (he had a specific number of yards, which I forget, seems to me this rule was basically part of hunting rules). Anything else I should know?

[Alan Block]

Shooting may be limited by the fire danger depending on whereyouare, the recent weather etc.

[WolfMansDad]

Having a loaded firearm at your campsite is legal, since the campsite is treated as your residence while you are there. While open carry is legal, it's just a better idea to conceal. Saves a lot of sturm and drang.

I THINK it is legal to carry concealed while you are fishing and while you are going between your campsite and your fishing site. You should check the law on this one, but I believe it is permissible to ccw (without a permit) while hunting or fishing, and while traveling to and from hunting or fishing.

Do carry when you go camping. One dark night many years ago, at an otherwise deserted campsite near Walker Pass, I had a hair-raising experience and was very glad I was armed.

[creampuff]

Do carry when you go camping. One dark night many years ago, at an otherwise deserted campsite near Walker Pass, I had a hair-raising experience and was very glad I was armed.

If it is none of my business, then please disregard. But can I ask what happened?

[AJAX22]

If it is none of my business, then please disregard. But can I ask what happened?

+1 sounds like an interesting story

[FreedomIsNotFree]

If you are in a National Forest or Wilderness area you can open carry loaded or unloaded not only in your campsite, but also in the entire national forest/wilderness area.

Remember that laws against concealed carry only apply in INCORPORATED areas of the state. There are occasionally county ordinances against open carry but that is typically around more populated or protected areas.

In regards to target shooting while you are in the National Forest or Wilderness, I would recommend that you call the Forest Ranger for that area and ask if there are any restrictions.

I have done quite a bit of back country hiking and I ALWAYS have a loaded rifle in my hand and pistol on my hip. I've run across a few tree huggers from time to time.....the funniest was when some lady and her husband tried to tell me it was illegal to have gun....I laughed at em and told em to call the police then....

[sierratangofoxtrotunion]

One of the people coming on this camping trip is majoring in Administration of Justice. Can anybody cite law to keep this guy busy?

[sierratangofoxtrotunion]

I THINK it's national forest all around us, but I'd have to double check. On last year's trip I asked the rangers, they said we could go target shoot and stuff as long as we weren't shooting towards or near a trail or road or the lake (he had a specific number of yards, which I forget, seems to me this rule was basically part of hunting rules).

Confirmed, we're in Tahoe NF.

[JHC]

You may have problems getting a fire permit in July in Tahoe NF unless you're at an established campground

[FreedomIsNotFree]

One of the people coming on this camping trip is majoring in Administration of Justice. Can anybody cite law to keep this guy busy?

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/calawquery?codesection=pen&codebody=&hits=20

Have him go to Part 4, Title 2, Chapter 1.....that section covers firearms....plenty to keep him busy....

[M. Sage]

Confirmed, we're in Tahoe NF.

Had a Forest Ranger (in Gila NF, we were camping in the Wilderness, though) drive by, look at us with holsters on our hips, smile, wave and keep right on driving.

I don't think guns'll be an issue in a National Forest. Seems like the rangers would be actually glad to see you with them, instead of worrying about finding your half-eaten corpses sometime later...

[kap]

12026.2(a)(11) covers this.

12026.2. (a) Section 12025 does not apply to, or affect, any of the
following:

(11) The transportation of a firearm by a person when going
directly to, or coming directly from, a lawful camping activity for
the purpose of having that firearm available for lawful personal
protection while at the lawful campsite. This paragraph shall not be
construed to override the statutory authority granted to the
Department of Parks and Recreation or any other state or local
governmental agencies to promulgate rules and regulations governing
the administration of parks and campgrounds.

12025. (a) A person is guilty of carrying a concealed firearm when
he or she does any of the following:

Blah, blah, blah ...

Unless I am mistaken it is perfectly legal to concealed carry while hiking directly to or from your campsite or while in your campsite.

[SamIAm]

"This paragraph shall not be construed to override the statutory authority granted to the Department of Parks and Recreation or any other state or local
governmental agencies to promulgate rules and regulations governing
the administration of parks and campgrounds."

Just check with each individual park's rules and regs. Some don't allow firearms

[MudCamper]

National Forests aren't parks. Almost all State Parks do not allow firearms. National Forrests and BLM land is Fed, not state, and firearms are allowed. Only where you can shoot is sometimes restricted. Best advice is call the nearest ranger station and verify any regs.

[WolfMansDad]

If it is none of my business, then please disregard. But can I ask what happened?

My wife, our two kids (one elementary-school age, one toddler), and I were on a road trip to Bishop to go fishing, and we stopped at a little-used campsite in the mountains, not far from Walker Pass. There were no other campers there, so we had the place to ourselves. My wife said she had a bad feeling, but I blew her off. Guys, listen to your wives! Women have intuition that should not be ignored.

Long story short: In the middle of the night, some guy came out of the woods and approached our tent. My wife woke up at the sound of his footsteps and saw his shadow cast on the side of our tent, in the moonlight. She sat up and screamed, which woke me up, and the guy moved off into the bushes. I got up, put my boots on, and carried a 3D maglight and my .45 outside the tent to see what was going on. (I held the .45 behind me, so he couldn't see it.) Guy was hiding in the bushes behind the tent, just outside the campsite, and I lit him up with the maglight. I figured he was a lost hiker or something and asked him if he needed help. No answer. He neither spoke nor moved to leave. I got kind of spooked at this point and announced I was armed. Still no answer or movement. This was really beginning to creep me out, so we packed our sleeping bags into the jeep and left, stopping several miles down the road to sleep the rest of the night away. When we returned the next morning to get our tent, he was gone.

I didn't know quite what to make of this, so I didn't report it to the police.

Two weeks later, a few miles away from that campsite, a man kidnapped and raped two teenage girls he caught parking with their boyfriends in the middle of the night. A few days after that, the police caught up with him while he was driving around in the desert with the girls tied up in the back of his car. They got into a shootout, and he died. The girls survived.

I believe this was the same guy who was creeping around our tent, and I regret not telling the police about him when it happened. I often wonder if I could have prevented those rapes if I had only gone to the police.

[M. Sage]

:eek: That's a freaky story.

[stevepsd]

Two weeks later, a few miles away from that campsite, a man kidnapped and raped two teenage girls he caught parking with their boyfriends in the middle of the night. A few days after that, the police caught up with him while he was driving around in the desert with the girls tied up in the back of his car. They got into a shootout, and he died. The girls survived.

I believe this was the same guy who was creeping around our tent, and I regret not telling the police about him when it happened. I often wonder if I could have prevented those rapes if I had only gone to the police.

Sorry, but you have story slightly twisted around. Walker Pass is in my backyard, and I have day camped there many times.

Here is the actual story, regarding the incident that took place in Aug 2002:

LANCASTER, Calif. -- Two teenage girls abducted at gunpoint early Thursday from a lovers' lane were rescued 100 miles away after their kidnapper crashed his getaway car and was shot to death by sheriff's deputies, authorities said.

Kern County Sheriff Carl Sparks said he was certain the kidnapper was just minutes away from killing the girls and had chosen a remote location in the high desert. He said the girls had been raped.

"He was hunting for a place to kill 'em and bury 'em," Sparks said on CNN's Larry King Live program.

The suspect showed a gun when two deputies arrived and said, "No way, no way," according to the sheriff. The deputies shot him seven times in all.

Television footage showed the sobbing girls, ages 16 and 17, being bandaged for what appeared to be minor injuries. The girls, who are not being identified because they were sexually assaulted, were taken to a hospital for a checkup.

Hospital administrator Peter Bryan said they were "coherent, awake, alert," but he declined to discuss their condition.

The abduction launched a 12-hour manhunt across the Southwest.

The kidnapper was identified as 37-year-old Roy Ratliff, who had a long criminal history and was charged in October with raping a 19-year-old relative but was never apprehended.

The girls were abducted at 1 a.m. in the Quartz Hill area outside Lancaster by a gunman who left the girls' dates bound with duct tape. The kidnapper drove off in a Ford Bronco that belonged to the date of one of the girls, leaving behind a car the FBI said was stolen in Las Vegas last month.

Acting on a tip, authorities spotted the Bronco with the girls inside near Lake Isabella, a two-hour drive north of Lancaster. After a mile-long chase, the Bronco veered off the road in the high desert and crashed, said Kern County sheriff's Cmdr. Chris Davis.

"We were able to rescue the females. The suspect ran off," but refused to surrender and was shot by deputies, he said.

Friends and relatives at the sheriff's command center here wept with joy and hugged when they learned the girls were safe.

"I was just hoping they weren't harmed," said the mother of one of the girls. "Everyone was praying."

"I couldn't be a happier man right now and hope none of you has to go through something like this," said the other girl's father.

Arrangements were being made to reunite the girls with their parents.
The teens were kidnapped early Thursday after they parked in separate vehicles beneath two giant water tanks on a hilltop known as Quartz Hill, a teenage hangout.

The gunman forced one of the girls out of the Bronco belonging to her date, Eric Brown, 18. He then approached a pickup truck occupied by the other girl and her date, Frank Melero Jr.

Brown said he was blindfolded, bound with duct tape and tied to a post as the man took the girl. "He just kept telling her to stay down, keep her head down, don't look at him," he said.

"He told me he was going to kill me but he didn't want to," Brown said.

Left behind was a car that the FBI said was stolen July 18 from Roberta and James Young, 65, in Las Vegas. Authorities said Ratliff poured gasoline over the car, apparently trying to torch it, but was unsuccessful.

"We're very thankful those girls are all right," Roberta Young said in Las Vegas. "I really knew, truthfully, that that could have been me, could have been my husband."

Ratliff had a criminal record dating to the 1980s in Nebraska and California that included prison stretches for theft, burglary and possession of methamphetamines. He disappeared after his parole in July 2001.

========================
In another TV interview, Carl Sparks, Kern County Sheriff wanted to know why these two girls (16 & 17) were out at 1AM on a weekday night and where where their parents? The girls parents then tried to sue the Sheriff dept for slander. Carl Sparks was/is a no-nonsence, straight talking, no BS type of guy.

He was killed about 20 miles west of the Walker Pass area. Quartz Hill is about 100 miles south of Walker Pass. He was spotted by a Kern County Animal Control Officer who called the sheriff. I know one of the two deputies that responded and ending up shooting him.