The gun is the best possible defense.
A comment at the original article said that the poster would have used pepper spray.
IMO that is stupid, it would just irritate the bear and it would have the hiker for lunch.
The gun and good shooting is the only certain defense. Dead bears don’t hurt anyone.
Pepper spray is very effective at deterring a curious bear moving too close. Skunks have proved this concept to be fact for millenia. I would trust it much less against a bear in an aggression mode. There a pistol is ok, but I’d rather have a long gun.
I disagree. A flame thrower (or a road flare that throws a decent flame) beats a gun six days a week and twice on Sundays. Regardless what color the bear is.