Do hikers take guns to scare off animals and knives for all kinds of purposes? Not saying weapons were used but I know people who camp and have weapons like this
Practicalities…
To scare off most animals you make a racket, e.g. with pan lids. Even Rangers do this. If a gun went off, you’d probably freak out other campers in a car camping situation, and you’d hear from a Ranger the next day.
I don’t believe you can use guns in developed public campgrounds. Gun blasts in the night would not be a good plan.
Raccoons aren’t deterred by a whole lot of anything. Mice are a pain in the butt because they chew holes in, like, everything! Including your food bag and favorite pack. Shooting one or two of those really won’t advance your situation.
Bears are for bear spray, but you shouldn’t theoretically have trouble if you follow directives about hanging, bear bins, and canisters, and put anything aromatic in them, including trash, toothpaste, and deodorant. If a grizzly, those stalk humans, so, yes, use your bear spray or just plain don’t camp except in busy campgrounds in grizzly land, and hope they eat the other campers first.
You might use your bear spray on a tetchy human, but it might be considered a weapon, so then you’d have assault charges to worry about….
I inadvertently camped in the night time munching place for a herd of elk that got the munchies. The loudest chwing noise right in my ear I have ever heard (FREAK!), but would I use a gun? No. I could have made a racket, but they would have tripped over the tent guys in their fright… Nature!