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

gemship

If I carried a gun with me on a ride I'm afraid I would probably use it.

Powerful Pete

LOL, you are correct. Today I had two run-ins with cars in a 90km ride where I would have gladly emptied a magazine into the moronic driver. Better for me just to gesticulate and tell him/her things about his mother's grandmother.

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gemship

LOL yep. I suppose that's where it should begin and end. So long as you live to tell the tale. I hear it's every man for himself in Italy. I used work with a Italian and he said all that but he also said just because we drive fast don't mean we can't drive. Actually people here in Ma. of USA maybe the worst. For the 90% of folks that act like the see me I always attract the other 10% that enjoy making the skin of my nuts stand on end-yikes

TheDarkLord

When I visited Sicily, the best part was how an Italian commented, "A red light is a suggestion, not a rule. Don't expect everyone to stop at the red light". PP, any comments?

Powerful Pete

Depends where you are, I guess. Clearly, our idea of safe-distance is different from the US or other places I have ridden (Austria, Germany, France and Belgium). I have never ridden much south of Rome, so I cannot comment on how riders are treated in Naples or Sicily.

In Rome you cannot get away with running red lights with impunity, and there is simply far too much traffic to make it through a red and stay alive. Now... we ARE specialists with the entire 'orange' thing...

The place I felt less safe riding was in the US - both in the Washington DC/Virginia/Maryland area and in NY State. Drivers seem to be very angered that I existed and/or were completely oblivious. But that was over 15 years ago (although there were quite a number of riders in both areas) and things may have changed.

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TheDarkLord

I was referring to driving, not cycling in my previous post...

Powerful Pete

As I said, depends where you are in Italy. I can tell you that the traffic here is heavy ALL the time - I would not risk driving through a red light unless it is three in the morning or something.

Plus, some smart guy in the city of Rome has begun installing those cameras at stoplights that take a pic of your plates if you drive through with the red...

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TheDarkLord

I can understand the situation in Rome. If you visit Sicily sometime, let me know how things are over there.

In Puerto Rico, it is allowed to treat a red light as a stop sign (stop and then go) after midnight. This is apparently to prevent car jackings.

Powerful Pete

Whoa. That does not sound good...

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garage sale GT

I should have said "not just ground attack".

I think the big gun was an Oldsmobile.

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kdelong

The P-39 was not really powerful enough to realistically be considered a front line fighter at the time. There was no turbocharger and the performance of the aircraft suffered for it. The RAF outfitted one squadron with Airacobras in August of 1941 and switched it to Spitfires in March of 1942. The P-39 had an inadequate rate of climb and poor high altitude performance which made it totally unacceptable for the fighting conditions in the European Theater.

The Airacobras were very effective against the Japanese Zeros in the Pacific Theater mainly because they were well armored and had superior firepower. They were effective along the Eastern Front where the Russians were able to engage Messerschmitt Bf 109's in air-to-air combat at low altitude. Their primary role in the Soviet Air Force, though, was to provide close air support to the Red Army.

The US had some success in North Africa with the Airacobra, however it was used primarily to strafe troops and unarmored vehicles. The 37mm cannon was not really large enough to knock out tanks and other armored vehicles.

One really odd mission for the Airacobras was when some were fitted out as dive bombers to be used against Japanese ships. They were never designed for this roll, but with the proper techniques and tactics, they excelled at it.

Sorry I'm so far off topic but this little airplane is a favorite of mine!

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napcop

To answer the original question, yes i do. See avatar...
COPS, BY NATURE, TEND TO MAKE ENEMIES AT TIMES.
But like anything, it's not a "one size fits all" solution.
If you want my bike (Harley or Cannondale) you can have it.
You want my life or that of my family, I'll take yours first.
A gun is simply an extension of your mind...that is your best weapon.
"Discretion is the better part of valor."
~NAPCOP

artemidorus

Sure, you helped the Soviets, as did the British, and experts (ie, certainly not you) can tell us exactly how much that contributed to the Nazi defeat in the USSR.
But if you can't see your own glaring revisionist stance, I won't even bother arguing.

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mitosis

If people don't carry a guns, no-one gets shot, even by accident.