How many of you carry a gun as part of your cycling equipment? - Page 51

You can speak your mind - I only asked you to tone down the rhetoric of your replies to your fellow members.

As to your view about carrying guns - that's your business and you're free to express the fact that you support the guns laws as they current pertain.

The only thing that concerns me is the tone that you've used in your replies to members here.

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.."But finally the last thing I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the sceptics. I'm sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can’t dream big. [I]I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. I'll be a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live. And there are no secrets - this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it" - Armstrong 2005 TDF
morelike hypocrisy.

On rereading my post I thought my comments might have been a bit too cryptic for you.

YOur post demonstrates the superior thinking that many from your country have about yourselves. You have supported my case. Thank you.

Good grief, is this thread still alive?! This has to be the most successful thread I've ever seen, even if one doesn't care for it. Controversy always gets people's attention. That's why Jerry Springer has a TV show.

Doc, great analogy. I'll admit I've been tuning in here also. For those outside the US who haven't heard of the Jerry Springer Show, it's a trashy, sensational guest show which features lots of bad language and fighting guests. Typical subject: "I caught my boyfriend having sex with my teenage daughter."

As a US citizen, some of the pro-gun and pro-america stuff posted here is just as shocking and revolting to me, but for some reason I can't stop looking at it.

Mitosis, please know that many americans do not subscribe to the views posted here. Would be happy to share my views via email if you want to get another point of view from a US citizen. The Cycling Equipment forum isn't the proper place.

Thank you for your balanced comments.

I know there are Americans who can look objectively at their own country's flaws especially those who have lived outside the states. For them it is quite a rude awakening to realise that the USA is not held in particularly high regard in Britian, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand Canada etc.(the other english speaking countries)

They also realise that their country has many shortcommings (as most countries do including my own). Unfortunalely American media is so ego centric that americans hear very little about the rest of the world.

Americans need to understand that most of the countries mentioned do not want to be like america. We find you lack of racial harmony, lack of socialised medicine & gun laws completely unpalitable.

That is not to say that we hate everything american, far from it. But we certainly don't love everything american. America is a country with good & bad point like all countries.
Most Australian, British, Irish etc realise our countries have flaws & what annoys us most about most Americans is their inabilty to see their own flaws.

It's not unpatriotic just realistic.

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I want to be straight, I want to be straight,

I'm sick and tired of taking drugs and staying up late.

D, let me assure you that many non-Americans are well aware that not all Americans advocate the retention of guns.
Like One Ring suggests, most people know that every society has good and bad points.

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.."But finally the last thing I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the sceptics. I'm sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can’t dream big. [I]I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. I'll be a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live. And there are no secrets - this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it" - Armstrong 2005 TDF
morelike hypocrisy.

Since this thread is at the top, I will answer the question contained in the subject. I don't carry a gun as part of my cycling equipment. I've thought in the past that my u-lock might make an effective weapon, if it was necessary to defend myself from an attacker.

Personally, I don't have any problem with "law abiding citizens" owning firearms. I do take issue with the ones that use them to rob liquor stores and shoot people. They are part of the big problem in our society along with the corrupt politicians (both sides of the isle) and the amoral wealthy class. We have elements in our civilization that are unfixable. I don't think too many people from other industrialized nations can appreciate that.

People, especially women, are terrified to be out at night alone. Many have become prisoners in their own homes. This has relegated them to being under voluntary house arrest or martial law through no fault of their own. And this is only going to get worse. The police are unable or unwilling to do much to put an end to the voilent elements. They don't have the resolve. Our political leaders (again, both sides of the isle) don't give a scheiße as they don't care what the middle and lower classes do or think as long as we're out of the way. We can't afford to buy them so they aren't going to do anything to improve the situation. What happens is we end up having to help ourselves when it comes to protection. That and we have to keep moving further and further away from where we work. The suburbs are no longer the safe havens they once were. Many people here are moving to small towns way outside of the large cities and commuting for hours a day just so they can raise their families in a better environment.

Trust me Limrickman, if I could move to Ireland and support myself and get out of this rathole of a country that is sliding further and further toward collapse I would already be there! The grand ol' lady known as the U S of A isn't what she used to be. It's a house of cards, an illusion. The middle class is under attack on several fronts. Eventually there will have to be a new social class for highly educated people who earn low wages (the genteel poor perhaps?) as that's what is taking place here. It isn't all roses to be sure.

So what are the answers? I don't know. I really don't think it can be fixed without major bloodshed (something akin to Bastille/French Revolution) because here Democracy is for sale and We The People can no longer afford it.

This may sound radical but just stay alive and pay attention and you'll see what I am saying is true. Already the U.S. is no longer a 1st World country. We're a 2nd World country that is on it's way to becoming a Banana Republic ... a Banana Republic with two languages!

I suppose the problem that I have is that when some citizens in the US see carrying a gun for self protection whilst cycling as 'the natural order of things' and a 'right' (as in a good thing), then the I and much of the rest of the world can only shake our heads in amazement. Cycling (to me) is about freedom and fun, and if I had to carry a gun to protect myself in the neighbourhood I lived in, not only would I not see the point in cycling, I'd be doing some serious soul searching about the type of civic society that I was living in and contributing to.

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Regards Michael

Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience.

I have been involved with cycling more then 32 years and have never seen any cyclist carry a gun. Other then a few places in urban areas , I doubt any cyclist actually needs to carry. Maybe mountain bikers that ride in grizzly country, but that protection is not what anyone is talking here.
The gun issue here in America is way overblown by certain people in this country leading to a unreal image of America in other countries.

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"Since we started [selling the Livestrong wristbands], we've sold 75 million of these bracelets," said Armstrong. "What's different this year, is that anybody who buys a bracelet during the Tour, all the money stays here. I think it's important for people to understand that the money they spend - 1 Euro - is not going to Texas or the United States, it stays in France."

actually, the urban areas that are low income, predominately mexican-american are potentialy far safer than the well-to do areas of where i grew up, esp. when it comes to cyclist safety in terms of car/driver vs. cyclist related altercations.

as for me, i do carry spray (mace and or pepper) and a fiberglass dagger, the latter for picking debris out of the tires, of course.


"don't make me get of this lotus blossom and come kick your ass"
-bhudda, on the verge of road rage

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"The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present...As our case is new, so must we think anew and act anew"
Abraham Lincoln, in his address to congress dec. 1st, 1861

The only cycling related shooting I have ever heard of was in the more rural areas of Nor California. But that is probably because of the high number of cyclists and people. I think Greg Lemond was shot at while training in the Tahoe area many years ago ...... And I think the shootings that I have heard of were situations where "rednecks" took a shot at someone with the intention of not hitting them . Not that it makes it any easier for the cyclists being shot at. Well, it might make the cyclists develope a spin like he has never had before.
Wasn't there a female cyclist shot last year in the stomach while she was waiting at a stop sign?
The biggest danger a cyclist has in this country besides the obvious SUV is the dog. We all have had those experiances. If someone did ride in an area that he felt threatened , I would think Mace would be an ideal protectant. I know it is used[ or carried} by females in my area when riding through greenbelt bike trails. I can understand why females would feel a little nervous in those situations.

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"Since we started [selling the Livestrong wristbands], we've sold 75 million of these bracelets," said Armstrong. "What's different this year, is that anybody who buys a bracelet during the Tour, all the money stays here. I think it's important for people to understand that the money they spend - 1 Euro - is not going to Texas or the United States, it stays in France."

mace requires a permit, can be had by attending a certification class in ca., but pepper spray has been proven more effective, it works without a doubt.
i carry also m.a.c.e. brand pepper spray/mace 50-50 mix, the mace is really only for long term disorientation, the pepper spray debilitates. just be sure to only get the spray variety and not the foggers, which, for the most part do not have the range adequate for on-bike use.

the postal carriers use HALT brand pepper spray, and it is avble mail order cheaply. i have only used this stuff on dogs, and only as a last gasp measure, as i love animals, but after having my carnacs polished by a rotweiller at 30 just wanted to be more prepared. i'd much rather out run 'em.

now, about that ti-framed airweight iv'e condsidered, or maybe a .22 mag snub...shouldn't be necessary unless i respond to provocation in an innapropriate manner.

keep your cool out there...chances are no one wants to come to blows with someone fit enough to be out on the road.

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"The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present...As our case is new, so must we think anew and act anew"
Abraham Lincoln, in his address to congress dec. 1st, 1861

I doubt if it's Mace then. Probably pepper spray. I never have really gave any thought what it was, and I did not think Mace was an item where a permit was needed. Interesting . I too love dogs. But .........

I would think if a person rides where he feels threatened enought to carry a gun, he would seek out a different route. I used to be a gun owner of the "hunter kind," not the "self protection" kind, and I just do not see a good link of guns and bikes.

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"Since we started [selling the Livestrong wristbands], we've sold 75 million of these bracelets," said Armstrong. "What's different this year, is that anybody who buys a bracelet during the Tour, all the money stays here. I think it's important for people to understand that the money they spend - 1 Euro - is not going to Texas or the United States, it stays in France."

statisticaly, the use of guns as a means of successful self defense is myth.

the best unprovoked altercation preventative is not going out alone, unless your group resembles a critical mass ride, not that there is anything wrong with that...

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"The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present...As our case is new, so must we think anew and act anew"
Abraham Lincoln, in his address to congress dec. 1st, 1861