I have a friend who worked on the North Slope. He says that MOST folks up there have a LARGE caliber rifle in the truck - loaded, and many carry a larhe caliber handgun. I know he carried a 44 Mag with hot loads, and practiced practiced practiced until he was good with it. The rifle in his truck was 300 Win mag if I remember right
Yet the laws in many states make it illegal to do so. Handguns, only criminals carry those. And the rifle? It better not look scary ("assault rifle") or you are a criminal. And shooting a defenseless bear? PETA wouldn't be happy. Where I live in Wisconsin where we have bears, wolves, coyotes, and even the occasional mountain lion we can't even openly carry without a 'disturbing the peace' ticket headed our way.