When he released Bowling for Columbine, many assumed Michael Moore would lay the blame for the Columbine shootings at the feet of the NRA, gun industry, and gun enthusiasts.  Instead he largely pointed the finger at the culture of fear which we live in, particularly in America.  He made this case by pointing out that there are other countries where the citizenry are similarly armed, and yet they don't have anything like our rate of shootings, even when adjusted for population.  He pointed out that another thing which distinguished the USA from other countries is how our news media regularly scares the piss out of people to try and secure viewers and thereby ratings.  A gun is a bad thing to have in the hands of a scared person.  Why am I on about this?  Well...

Recently someone posted a question on the Geocaching Forums over on Groundspeak:  "Do you carry a firearm when geocaching?"

As you probably know, I'm not against responsible gun ownership... I've stated my position on guns before.

I posted that I would not carry a firearm while geocaching and was asked why, so I stated my case.  Then, as if by hidden signal the gun nuts crawled out of the woodwork and began launching vitriol at me.  This of course, was not unexpected, and not really the point of this article.  I kept hearing of the need to protect oneself from violent crime, from wild animals, etc.

Because you know, the woods are just crawling with criminals.  One European cacher pointed out that most Americans feel safer when they come to Europe.  What a surprise.  They're not being bombarded by terrifying American news there.

A solid diet of American news will make one afraid to step outside one's door in the morning.  Another thread on the same message board was a warning to geocachers to be on the lookout for meth-amphetamine labs while hiking in the woods.  And the fear culture is alive and well.

The moderators at Groundspeak have issued warnings to people to stay on topic, so no real discussion of whether one *needs* to carry a concealed weapon while geocaching can take place there.  Too bad.  It's an interesting topic.  Check it out if you have time.