I am not judging... I am telling people about the probabilities of injury and death in the bush - guns have little to do with those probabilities- people chose to carry guns for whatever reason they chose?? I am simply saying not to justify that decisions on faulty information and also raise the unpopular statistic that gun accidents by licensed gun owners (not criminals) in the US kill way way more people than bears (680 /yr) .
The point you raise about spiders is interesting - and it may come as a surprise your wife is completely rational about her fear of spiders.
In fact the probability of serious spider bites (and snake bites) are much higher risk than bears. My dog was bitten 2 weeks by a Brown Reclusive spider in Kelowna and nearly died ($800 in vet bills). The Brown Reclusive spider injects an necrotizing venom causing the surrounding tissue to die and can cause a severe type of bacterial infection (flesh-eating bacteria).. It can destroy the muscles, skin, and underlying tissue.. My next door neighbor was bitten by the brown reclusive spider and they had to surgically remove the dead and inflect flesh from leg. He was left with a big scar.
Here are some probabilities of dying from by the US National Safety Council. The odds of dying from all possible cause is 1:1, cause we all die eventually. I would add spiders to Insect list..
Note also firearm discharge' is way up there (not the same as 'assault with firearm') .Does not look like 'bears' made the short list.
Those are facts, which may not sit well with common perception.
Heart Disease and Cancer 1:7
Chronic Lower Respiratory Disease 1:28
Intentional Self-harm 1:100
Unintentional Poisoning By and Exposure to Noxious Substances 1:112
Motor Vehicle Crash 1:109
Fall 1:144
Assault by Firearm 1:358
Pedestrian Incident 1:704
Motorcycle Rider Incident 1:911
Unintentional Drowning and Submersion 1:1,113
Exposure to Fire, Flames or Smoke 1:1,442
Choking from Inhalation and Ingestion of Food 1:3,375
Pedacyclist Incident 1:4,535
Firearms Discharge 1:6,699
Exposure to Excessive Natural Heat 1:6,745
Cataclysmic Storm 1:6,780
Air and Space Transport Incidents 1:8,015
Exposure to Electric Current, Radiation, Temperature and Pressure 1:12,220
Contact with Sharp Objects 1:37,351
Contact with Hornets, Wasps and Bees (spiders) 1:55,764
Contact with Heat and Hot Substances 1:59,093
Legal Execution 1:127,717
Being Bitten or Struck by a Dog 1:116,448
Lightning Strike 1:164,968
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001443.htm
? The man asked for advice on where to take some training. Training that should teach them skills to keep his family entirely safe with respect to storage and handling. More importantly his wife supports them spending the extra time and money for owning a larger 'bear banger', why judge? 