Why they sell "mountain" guns

[LINK] WTVC, Ch. 9 TV, Chattanooga, TN

A black bear attacked a family of three in Polk County, Tennessee, killing a 6-year-old girl, and seriously injuring a 2-year-old boy and the children's mother.

The attack happened late Thursday afternoon in the Cherokee National Forest, at the Chilhowee campground.

The family was visiting from Ohio. According to Dan Hicks, a spokesperson with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, it was around 4 pm when the bear walked up to the family near Benton Falls. Everyone started throwing rocks and yelling at the bear to get it to go away.

Rocks? Throwing rocks?  Nobody had a firearm? Come on! This is just SAD!

Be responsible parents, people! Pack a gun so you can save your kids' lives!

Something like this would have taken care of the problem.

Unfortunately, Cherokee National Forest rules do not allow packing a firearm for defensive purposes. These rules need to be amended, to allow defense against both animal and human predators. (While rare, there have been documented cases of rape and murder in national forests).

The family was visiting from Ohio. According to Dan Hicks, a spokesperson with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, it was around 4 pm when the bear walked up to the family near Benton Falls. Everyone started throwing rocks and yelling at the bear to get it to go away. Instead the bear picked up the 2 year old boy and began to maul him.

The boys mothers tried to help her son and she was attacked. During the confusion the 6 year old girl ran away. The bear ran away as well.

A search began for the girl. She was found dead 100 yards away. Hicks said her injuries were consistant with a bear attack.

The bear was still in the area and was fired on by officers. However it's not clear if they hit the animal or not and the hunt for the bear continues.

Attacks on humans by black bears are extremely rare. In May of 2000 a 50-year-old woman was killed in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

"As far as we know, it's the first one (fatal attack) in the Southeast," said Nancy Gray, a spokesperson for the park at that time. "It's very rare for a black bear. They're just not as aggressive as grizzlies."

In that case Park Rangers killed two black bears found near the body of Glenda Bradley after they were notified of the attack.

There are only  52 known fatal black bear attacks in North America in the last 100 years.

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On a lighter note, what's the best bait for  catching a bear?  Apparently, it's  honey buns and  doughnuts.  Appeal to  the bear's sweat tooth.  Bears get spoiled by the trash campers leave.

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UPDATE: Firearms are not legal for defense in national forests

Based on a comment by Phil, I found this FAQ page for the Cherokee National Forest, which says firearms are allowed in campgrounds only during hunting season, and not for self defense. Perhaps they could reconsider that policy. There are also rare cases of 2-legged predators abusing campers.