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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Oral Roberts who wrote (171121)	6/25/2006 1:07:48 PM
From: ManyMoose	Respond to of 793899

That writeup reminds me of a Forest Service man who was murdered by a man whom he stopped to help and give water to. That was way back in the late 70s or 80s, and my recollection is fuzzy, but it was infuriating. The story relates to the low budget of FS law enforcement. When I started, there was no law enforcement arm and enforcement was performed by ex officio officers or regular uniformed but unarmed employees. Later on we contracted with sheriff's departments, which is the way I would prefer. I dislike FS employees carrying weapons and badges and driving around with red light and siren. I think it puts the rest of us at risk. In a fire camp one time I chatted with a guy who had been a California Highway Patrol Officer. He asked if I carried a gun with me on duty. I responded that "We are not allowed to carry guns." (true) He said, "That wasn't my question. My question was 'Do you carry a gun.'" I didn't. But I thought about it. Later on in Alaska I carried a rifle for bears, but in the lower 48 I would like to have a pistol in my pack if it were allowed. In the law enforcement training I took, which was minimal, I routinely got 'killed' in the exercises because although I could see a gun peaking out from the sleeping bag or leaning on a tree, my natural tendency was to believe that it was perfectly normal. Now that there are more bad guys out there, I would like to have THEM be the ones worrying about whether FS employees have a weapon in their pack.