East Brainerd resident Monica Dobbs hikes 100 miles of the Appalachian Trail every winter with friends and craves the quiet days without cell phones, television and work.

Hikers who want to leave their daily lives behind sleep next to strangers in shelters, and many trade their real names for trail names. They sometimes can walk two or three days to find a town or a phone.

While leaving society behind is refreshing, being alone in the woods also can be terrifying.

“It’s an invitation for a disaster,” said Ms. Dobbs, a 28-year-old hairdresser, who plans to take a 9 mm handgun with her on her next trek.

“I think you should be allowed to legally carry a weapon for defense purposes. If someone comes after me, what am I going to do?” she said.

Guns have been restricted from some national parks for more than 100 years, except for hunting areas. However, there is a growing interest in easing the restrictions. U.S. Department of the Interior officials have proposed bringing federal gun restrictions in line with state laws. If approved, the change would allow hikers to carry loaded concealed weapons in some national parks.

Though crime in America’s national parks has decreased in the last 10 years, 384 incidents including killings, rapes, robberies, kidnappings and aggravated assaults occurred in national parks in 2006, according to the National Park Service.

In January a 24-year-old woman, Meredith Emerson, was found bludgeoned to death on a North Georgia section of the Appalachian Trail, and the killer has been linked to other park slayings.

Since 1973, 10 killings and 10 rapes have been reported on or around the 2,176-mile-long Appalachian Trail, which comprises 40 percent national park land, 40 percent national forest land and 20 percent state land, said Brian King, spokesman for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.

“People say, ‘I am going out into the woods. This couldn’t happen here,’ but yes, yes, it could,” Mr. King said. “It is not isolated from the society we live in.”

Officials at the Department of the Interior announced last week they will consider a proposal allowing individuals to carry concealed weapons in national parks and wildlife refuges if they are permitted to carry them on similar state land.

The proposal, which was written in response to a letter from 51 U.S. senators requesting a rule change, will be open for public comment for 60 days, according to the department.

U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who was among senators requesting the change in gun restrictions, said park gun laws are inconsistent. Last week’s prooposal would give states the power to decide what gun regulations should exist in all publicly owned parks, whether state or federal, he said.

Gun rights advocates, including the National Rifle Association, and the Bush administration are pushing for the rule change because in some states such as Montana, loaded concealed weapons are allowed in state parks. Under new regulations, loaded concealed weapons would be allowed in federal parks in those states, Sen. Corker said.

In Tennessee or Georgia, firearms are prohibited except in designated hunting areas, he said.

“It is not a problem in our state, but it is a problem in many states where the laws are in conflict,” Sen. Corker said.

Officials at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park said they were not permitted to comment on the ruling, but they referred to a statement by the National Park Service.

“Current firearms regulations in our parks and refuges were promulgated with the purpose of promoting public safety and resource protection,” the statement read. “As originally intended, the regulations are an effective law enforcement tool that we believe reduces poaching and illegal target shooting.”

Hikers such as Ms. Dobbs said they are glad park officials are discussing the issue, but other groups say a rule change could alter the hiking and backpacking culture that exists at areas such as the Appalachian Trail.

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy, which met over the weekend to discuss the park officials’ proposal, traditionally has opposed handguns on trails, mainly because organization officials believe that even in dangerous situations guns would not be useful, Mr. King said.

“No matter your feelings about gun ownership, there is a pretty good consensus that it is not necessary hiking the trail,” he said.

Dawson Wheeler, owner of Rock/Creek Outfitters in Chattanooga, has hiked the entire Appalachian Trail and said he understands hikers’ fears, because there were many moments during his trip when he wished he had a gun.

But carrying a loaded gun on a trail is not practical, he said.

Handguns weighing five to 10 pounds are comparatively heavy, and if they are buried in a backpack out of sight it could take a hiker too long to reach one in an emergency, he said.

“The odds of hurting yourself with a weapon are higher than running into someone in the backcountry that would want to hurt you,” he said. “It is an illusion that there could be a reason to carry a gun.”

Instead of buying a gun, Mr. Wheeler said, hikers should use common sense. Be careful in parking lots and on roads, hike during the day and never go alone, he said.

“Don’t leave your street sense at home,” said Wheeler. “You need to be attuned to the surroundings.”

Ms. Dobbs accepts that there is a slim chance she ever will find herself in trouble with a stranger on the trail, but she isn’t into taking chances, she said.

She understands most hikers will resent her for carrying a loaded gun and would feel uncomfortable if they knew it was hidden in a harness across her back. Although she loves the backcountry, she doesn’t believe it is a fairy land, she said.

“I wouldn’t want to carry it if I didn’t need it,” she said. “I really feel like I need it. Just think about how the world is now.”

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