I don't think Canadian gun laws were a problem, you can take a long gun across the border. We always carried a break down 12ga. shotgun in our canoe when canoeing the Whitshell Provincial Park on the Manitoba/Ontario border, just be sure to declare it.
Maybe they ought to sue the Canadian Government for not having wolf proof fences around the camp grounds.
I don't carry a gun on my morning walks in the desert but I do have a can of bear spray on my backpack strap and a fairly sharp walking stick(carbide tipped) mainly for feral dogs and strange folks I meet out in the bush.