It's a tough question for Jack Mowers, and his young sons' lives figure heavily in the equation: How does he feel about some of his fellow bike and hike enthusiasts carrying handguns for protection against mountain lions?
The thought that either of his sons, Trent, 3, and Zack, 4, could be accidentally shot is so painful he winces, unable to finish his sentence. On the other hand, if one of his sons were ever in the grip of a 90-pound cougar, he would want every advantage in saving his child.
It's a question that Mowers, 39, has yet to resolve, and it nagged at him Saturday as he and his sons stood at a Whiting Ranch trailhead only yards from a memorial to the victim of a fatal mountain lion attack.
"I wouldn't like a lot of people carrying guns," on the trails, he said. "Are they all trained, licensed?"
But he added, "I have these two kids and I don't want mountain lions preying on them, so I have trouble with what I believe."
After two attacks by a single cougar at Whiting Ranch in January -- when cyclists Mark Reynolds, 35, was killed and Anne Hjelle, 30, was seriously injured -- hikers and bikers have been rethinking weapons in general, and during bike rides and hikes in particular.
They are asking for Mace or pepper spray at bike shops, clipping knives onto their belts and carrying big sticks.
"A lot of people have come in looking for Mace," said Paul Shelton, manager of Supergo Bike Shop in Laguna Hills. "We don't carry it."
And in some cases, they're packing heat.
Last Wednesday, a jogger on a Modjeska Canyon trail who encountered a mountain lion pulled a handgun from his backpack.
David Cody, 25, an Air Force Reserve pilot who said he started carrying a handgun on his jogs after the January attacks, didn't fire but said he had a better chance of survival if the cat had attacked.
He backed away, dialed 911 on his cell phone, and was picked up by a police helicopter about 10 minutes later.
Jon Arnold, 52, a retired police captain, routinely carries his handgun when he bikes canyon trails.
Although he carries one, Arnold said he is against other hikers and bikers doing the same. "Most people aren't trained in how to use a firearm," Arnold said. "They run the risk of shooting themselves or someone else."
David Arnold (no relation), 33, of Foothill Ranch, said he is worried about "the nut out there who will shoot at everything he sees."
