This was in relation to the Alaska Highway. Yes, people who live along the Alaska Highway usually own a rifle for hunting, at minimum. I lived in this area, and people were shocked that I didn't own one. Every husband and wife had one each. "But where do you get your meat?" "At Safeway." I digress.
However, for tourists travelling the highway, not so much. If you watch border security TV shows, American travellers are often caught trying to take guns, handguns, autimatic guns, etc. across the border for their trip to Alaska. Those guns are seized. The Alberta plates may have been like a neon sign to those two, flashing, "Hey, peeps, we're toutists and we have no guns." Same with LD's Rav4. That's a city dweller vehicle, and it probably had a Vancouver dealership sticker. Again, city people? Very likely no guns. If thrill killing, they would have chosen carefully for the thrill of the hunt.