I've read a lot of websites and books on the subject of touring before I went and bought gear and went touring, they all have their own way to do things, most are pretty similar, just as here our lists are similar, but there are some differences, and some pack guns and some don't, just depends on how you feel about things. If I was in Europe, from what I've read here, wild life is not as threatening as it can be here in the US or Canada, now not everyone tours with a gun of course but most of those people are touring in a large group where having a gun is not allowed and animals tend to shy away from large groups of humans. But touring alone presents some challenges that while rare could occur. It's like this, I use Schwalbe Marathon Greenguard tires with a tire liner, I doubt I will get a flat with that setup, or at least it would be really rare, so why bother carrying a pump, patches, spare tire, and extra tubes? Of course carrying a gun isn't for everyone and in fact with some people I would recommend them not to because they may create more problems than they solve; and some people just have an aversion to guns; and of course some countries you can't have one on you.
But I've been trained in the military to use guns against people, I've hunted since I was 8 years old! Yes, 8 years old!! and my uncle taught me a lot of stuff long before I even went into the military, So guns to me is a non issue, my wife not so much! LOL! She's a California girl and she simply is afraid of them. Where I was born it wasn't uncommon for a boy to be out shooting with a parent, or in my case an uncle, when they were very young, usually around 7 to 8 years of age they start, and usually a small caliber rifle like a 22 or a 410 shotgun. Areas that hunt a lot have people that have a lot of respect for guns, they're not the ones that go out and do mass shootings, in fact in certain more remote areas of Alaska and Canada (Wyoming due to many recent threats has been trying to do the same thing but is having trouble getting people to accept it) the older high school age boys bring loaded high powered hunting rifles to the bus stop (only one is assigned to carry a rifle), take them onto the bus, take them into the classrooms with them and set them next to their desks, why is that you scream? three words...bears-Grizzlies in particular, wolves and moose, and you never hear of those kids going on a rampage and shooting up the classroom or the school. These bears are moving from more remote areas due to climate change and are now going into areas where more humans are, and bears are the only animal that will intentionally hunt a human, the others will only kill a human out of fear or protection of cubs, but rarely for food, mountain lions if starving and see a human as an opportunity will attack a human for food. This migration of dangerous animals is why Wyoming who never would have considered guns coming to a bus stop and onto the bus in the past are now, problem is most of the population is against it, but when a kid or kids gets hurt or killed at a bus stop they'll change their minds fast, and Wyoming is a huge hunting state so it won't be much of a problem for them to go that route, of course this would only apply to more rural areas. Not much is mentioned about kids taking guns to school because the rest of the US would be in shock, so it's kept real quiet; also keep in mind, these are rural areas, the schools are very small, they're not being bused into Anchorage! Anchorage is far away from these rural areas.
Even though Alaska allows guns for the protection of the kids at a bus stop, the attacks are very rare, I tried to get a number on how many bus stops in rural Alaska were threatened by bears or other wildlife and I couldn't find anything, does that mean it never has happened, or simply not newsworthy, or to remote for the news to even hear about it? I don't know, but even if it never has happened that doesn't mean it will never happen, and it's enough of a concern in those rural areas to address the situation. I do know too that in some less rural areas where law enforcement can get to a bus stop, they actually will have the State Troopers waiting at bus stops just in case of a bear. Again I couldn't find any information if a Trooper ever had to kill an animal, probably for all the same reasons I mentioned earlier. A family I knew that lived in a semi rural area said they had a state trooper waiting at the bus stop every morning for that reason. I think too that if there has been known sightings or attacks in a certain area that would probably be the reason for the state trooper presence. Carrying a gun for a very rare event is similar to having schools where I live that shelter the kids in tornado drills, we've never had a tornado hit a school where I live so why bother with the drills if it's so rare? Yes we've had tornado sightings, and yes they've had bear sightings, heck I believe they've had a lot more bear sightings then we have tornado sightings yet we drill the kids for tornados, I can't even recall when the last time our city has seen a tornado, we've had watches but no sightings. So to say guns aren't necessary for kids protection going to school in case of an animal attack isn't correct.
