[Daugherty16]

First, welcome to TFL. Hope this trip you're planning is a blast.

Second, i don't know what you expected to find, or what you think of what you have found, but i think TFL harbors the best collection of sincere, informed, and helpful moderators and members of any firearms-related forum. People here will genuinely try to help you.

Third, please understand that's what i'm doing when i say: don't carry a gun until you know (KNOW!) the laws pertaining to use of lethal force and have had some firearms training. It's a very different thing to have one in the nightstand, and shoot it once a year, and to have one on your hip constantly. I applaud your wanting to have a means of self-defense available, and you can certainly achieve it, but could also land yourself in some trouble. Ignorance of the law is never a valid defense.

Reference to the Trayvon case is enough. You can completely ruin your life and the life of others in an instant by reacting improperly to a situation, unable to react to training you didn't take. And, involvement in the defense of a criminal prosecution for murder or related charges, will almost certainly exceed $ 100,000 even with a country bumpkin lawyer and the cost can go way up from there for a competent attorney.

I don't mean to scare you off, just suggesting that you approach this with a no-nonsense, intelligent manner. The laws of every state are easily located on the web, including permitting requirements, hunting regulations, homicide, and criminal and civil liability.