Not much debate out in my neck of the woods, most national parks specifically forbid firearms.

A thought on carrying a sidearm in a backpacking situation, how would you plan to carry it?

The suspension of a backpack precludes a shoulder holster, any other concealment-type holsters would almost certainly be incredibly awkward for someone walking miles of trails a day. You could open-carry with a belt holster, but open carry is probably a no-no even more often than concealed. Leg holster would be a bunch of weight on one leg, again probably proving awkward for someone walking long distances.

That leaves the pack. If you carry the thing inside the pack, it sort of defeats the purpose in my mind. If a situation is dire enough to warrant deadly force, you're likely not going to have the time to unclip your straps, open the pack, rummage around, find the gun, draw, and fire.

If it's an animal encounter, you're unlikely to hit a charging predatory creature (if you could get a gun out in time), and if it's a person, they're not going to wait while you get a gun out.

Plus, it's several pounds of dead weight which I'm unlikely to use. By the typical philosophy of lightweight backpacking, that item gets left at home!