While walking with a rifle or shotgun in the streets of Longyearbyen in Svalbard, tourists would invariably look at us, amused. Thinking, and frequently sharing those thoughts, that being armed in town was overkill, unjustified, intimidating, and as a Canadian female tourist proudly opinionated, “a sad demonstration of toxic masculinity.”
In Longyearbyen, carrying a gun anytime one is outside of a building, including in the downtown streets, is actually a rule. This is because humans in Svalbard are greatly outnumbered by polar bears, and there is the potential for attacks. Stores even offer a safe to hold your guns while you shop. It has always been part of Svalbard’s life.
For the past decades, we have therefore religiously carried a gun with us, any time we weren’t within the safety of a building. Always prepared and ready in the event of an attack. For the past decades, nothing happened, and at times, we have to confess that we even questioned, albeit briefly, the necessity of being armed at all times. After all, bears in town were rare. Actual attacks even rarer.
The same thought crossed our mind, on Friday’s early morning, loading a vehicle at the airport while one of us was on watch with a gun. Joking that the guy standing guard was doing it as an excuse for not helping the others, because, what were the odds of a polar bear attacking us on the parking lot of the Longyearbyen airport, right?
Until a polar bear, out of nowhere, charged us.
The bear was immediately shot dead. And with that shot, the life of our guys saved. Two decades of preparedness for one critical event. Two decades of preparedness to survive one incident. All worth it.
