I think you are right about the dead or wounded bears or kids or possibly even an inebriated adult or two. I also agree that the NRA was disingenuous, at best, when it painted the National Parks as dangerous places.

I don't think that any other states have CCW reciprocity with California. The requirements in CA are almost as stringent as for NYC.

I am a gun owner and a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment but I also cordially loathe the NRA. It is an organization with highly paid executives, equally highly paid lobbyists and huge budgets. I can't think of any other single-interest pressure group that can make nearly half of our Congress roll over and present the requested orifice as easily as the NRA; the NEA may run a close second but on the other side of the aisle.

I am philosophically opposed to any undue concentration of political power be it by political parties, churches, corporations, bankers, the military, college professors or gun owners. To me the NRA represents just such a concentration.

I used to be an NRA member because it was required to participate in sanctioned pistol matches and because I felt that it worked to protect gun owners rights. Now that my vision has caught up with my age, I no longer compete. Now that I have presumably grown wiser with age, I have come to believe that the NRA is primarily interested in its continued existence. For these reasons, I am no longer a member.

Yes, it has gun safety programs and sanctions a lot of competitive shooting matches so it does some good. But its continuing intransigence regarding any form of reasonable restrictions on, or qualifications for, gun ownership gets discouraging after a while.