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

Joe West

Gosh... now you are afraid of me? You don't want to even email me because you don't want me to have your email address?

To dispell whatever internal thoughts you might have... here's a link where you can learn more about me:

http://www.flatfendertj.com

Notice the new Porsche 911 Turbo? Notice that I am a pilot, dive instructor, engineer, and off-roader?

Hardly one of the masses Alienator... I think for myself... I get off my butt and live life; and as you might gather from my activities... I'm afraid of nothing.

I carry a weapon because I never know when some pathetic dog of a human being will try to infringe on my life... I will allow no one to take my life, or the life of my family... and I will defend them to the death.

You really think bad things don't happen? Examine the statistics. They certainly can... and they do. And being prepared is important... be it in SCUBA, flying, biking, or living.

I'll take your fear to even email me as the equivalent of submissive urination commonly practiced by dogs when they are in the presence of the alpha male.

Enjoy the link I provided... Unlike you, I'm not afraid to use my real name when I post... I'm not afraid to give you (or anyone) my email address... I'm not afraid to put what I do or who I am on the web for everyone to see.

It is clear who is afraid, and who is not.... and when you roll over off your back and stop pissing on yourself... stand up like a man and don't be afraid. Shoot (I don't mean that word literally so please don't pee on your keyboard when you read it) me an email and we'll continue this discussion offline. Really... I'm a nice guy and I promise I won't shoot you.

JW

Doctor Morbius

Those are good ones. Hadn't heard either of them yet.

Frankly, I think the U.S. is behind the new world order. This globalization and the outsourcing of jobs from the first world countries to the third world countries is nothing more than labor arbitrage disguised as free trade. The wealthy are tired of paying us $50,000 a year so they export the jobs to someplace that pays significantly less (India, China).

When the Tech economy started to fall apart 4 years ago I started doing a lot of reading on the subject, especially since my career went over there too! And to think some employers, such as IBM, have the gall to ask their employees to train their replacements. Yeah, right. What a motivator!

portrider

"I'm sure your experience should be the model for every person walking the streets....'it happened to me, it's gonna happen to you...." - how about "it happened to me it COULD happen to you"

"Say, where do you think criminals get guns, fella?" - If criminals were in jail, where they belong, this wouldn't be a problem.


"Say, if the y'all are so concerned about all the guns in the hands of bad guys, why is it that no one is pushing for tighter registration of guns? Required training for having guns....and training can't be just a few days. Months, maybe?" In Pennsylvania - a right to carry state - you must be cleared to own a gun by the state police. All handguns are registered. How can you tighten registration, do you think a criminal is going to register his stolen gun? I do agree with required training, but you know what, the NRA sponsors almost all of it.

"Did any actually sit down and realize that if guns were more difficult to get that it might slow down the proliferation of guns in the criminal element?" - NY and DC decided that - has it slowed anything down?


It is really pathetic. But that's the way it is. No one here has suggested "shoot first, think, maybe later"

Buddy2004

Cyclists carrying guns?........a country with a constitutional right to bear arms?.......a country that is about to lift a ban on semi-auto assault rifles (that are designed for one purpopse only)........would that be the same country that also carried out an illegal war in the middle east. Seems to me that if the states were a little bit less gung ho and trigger happy, that maybe everyone else would be a bit safer.

As far as self defense goes - it is interesting to note that a significant percentage of US policemen who get shot on the job receive their gunshot wound from their own gun......sure they were feeling safe too, right up to the point when they were disarmed.

It's one thing to shoot at paper targets to boost your poor self esteem, quite another to actually shoot someone.............

Weisse Luft

About to lift a ban? You are obiviously out of the loop on current events, that was over two weeks ago and the reason was the "ban" had to include a "sunset clause" because of the arcane nature. It didn't ban semi autos, only semi-autos with "evil features" like flash supressors, bayonet lugs and "conspiciously protruding pistol grips". But its dead and it did absolutely NOTHING to stop rifles designed with only one purpose, that being to discharge a projectile.


Illegal war? Not as illegal as the corruption of the people claiming it was "illegal". Not as illegal as ignorance of sanctions.

Policemen get shot with their own guns because their own guns are exposed. Visible. My legally concealed pistol is invisible to all. When on the bike, it is safely tucked into my saddle bag, taking up less room than a folded Conti SuperSonic tire. The only way you would suspect is my saddle bag goes with me, not the bike.

My life is worth more than my self esteem. That is why I carry.

jitteringjr

Seriously, what is this notion of a legal war anyhow???

What we did was remove a tyrant from power: A tyrant that differed from Adoft Hitler only by the competency of his minions. (Germans happened to be educated and superbly trained) I don't care if it was legal or not; it was moral.

As for carrying a gun while cycling: I would like to see statistics on the probability of getting hit by a car divided by the percentage of people on bikes with a helmet and compare that to the probability of getting robbed, shot at or otherwise attacked divided by the percentage of cyclists that are packing in the Buckaroo U.S.A.

My guess is more people are trying to protect themselves from something that is highly unlikely to ever happened to them by carrying a gun than people trying to protect themselves by wearing a helmet even though they are much more likely to be hit by a car. To me, that is insanity.

__________________
04 Bianchi XL Carbon w/ Centaur
The Late 03 Jamis Comet. May she rest in peace.

artmichalek

I spent a lot of time riding my road bike in the city, and despite getting a lot of wierd looks, I never felt like anyone was going to hurt me. Despite the white supremacist propaganda, innocent people walking down the street simply don't get randomly shot in broad daylight. No matter how rough the neighborhood is. Ironically, now that I live out in the country, the only vehicles that have tried to run me off of the road have been pickup trucks plastered with nra stickers. If I'm riding in the city and someone wants to steal my bike, it's insured. A $3000 bike isn't worth anyone's life.

jitteringjr

Please tell me that you don't actually find anything credible on that blatant propaganda website. It is just as misleading as Michael Moore's movies. Yes Michael Moore manipulated facts to strengthen his views, but rebutting him with such mockery as that website does offers no credibility to its claims.

You seemed to be an intelligent person Joe, at least until you provided this garbage as evidence.




You should be because you are probably more likely to be a victim of identity theft than a victim of anything a gun would have helped you prevent.

__________________
04 Bianchi XL Carbon w/ Centaur
The Late 03 Jamis Comet. May she rest in peace.

Buddy2004

Point taken on war, legal or otherwise.

Morality? Bottom line is that the war was sold on WMD and had NOTHING to do with morality. Only after WMD weren't found did 'morality' enter the picture.

I agree that you're more likely to get hit by a meteor than shot and if the streets are that deadly, maybe the bike should be left at home?

Joe West

Hi Jitteringjr,

You call it exactly right... the site manipulates Michael's movie the same way that Michael manipulates reality.

The truth is; it doesn't matter. Those who believe that Michael Moore's movies reflect reality are themselves ungrounded in reality and nothing I could say or post would change that.

There are dozens of websites showing the errors in Moore's movies... anyone could search on google if they wanted to piece together what Moore manipulated in his movie(s).

Kind Regards,

Joe

Joe West

Buddy2004,

Isn't it overwhelmingly wonderful? The second amendment of the constitution is the absolute cornerstone and guarantor of the remainder of the constitution.

America will always be free because of our second amendment.

JW

Weisse Luft

WMD is what weak-minded people remember. It was non-compliance with UN resolutions which dictated armed enforcement. UNSCOM failed and was EJECTED in October of 1998. And the UN was powerless to enforce its resolutions on a rogue government. Now we know why...the UN is itself corrupt, providing vehicles for Hamas terrorists to conduct homicide bombings in Israel is just one more example.

Expect Israel to expel the UN.

Joe West

Great post Weisse Luft!

The UN is powerless... period.

JW

SiGromit

Several thoughts slightly related to this thread come to mind:

1) What's wrong with registration?

Simply the fact that in every case of government sponsored genocide that has occurred in the 20th century (which led to > 80 million people being killed by their own governments, so much for the "we'll protect you" promise) registration was first proposed as a safety issue and then used to confiscate weapons. (Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, www.jpfo.org, provides quite a bit of research on this topic). This has occurred also in the UK and Australia both as of late. And if my reading of the news is any indication, such crimes as hot robberies (aka home invasions, breaking into an occupied dwelling with criminal intent) have increased as have actual crimes with firearms. This has also occurred in the United States (a la New York and CA).

2) Why would I want to carry a firearm while cycling?

Simply put, because the future is uncertain, many things can happen which I should be prepared for, and the role of the police is to provide security and protection to society as a whole, not to individuals. I care tire levers and spare tubes, even though I'm not paranoid about getting flats. I have a fire extinguisher in my cars and in my home, though I'm not paranoid about fires. I carry a firearm with me, though I'm not paranoid about being a victim of crime. I merely recognize that I am responsible for my own safety and the safety of those I care for. My life is of immense value to me, and I think it would be morally wrong for me to insist that a public servant who is paid $30k a year (approximately) should rush to defend me from danger.

3) Comparisons to different countries in re firearms.

An excellently researched source of information is David Kopel's book "The Samurai, The Mountie and The Cowboy". Different things happen in different countries that need to be understood in their context. An oft-quoted example is the lack of firearm-based crime in Japan. But the Japanese live under a system that most Americans would consider to be intolerable (held by the police for days without being allowed to talk to others, confessions extorted by various means being allowed to be used in court, random searches by government officials).

4) "If we just ban guns, then there will be no more criminal uses of guns."

Alcohol was banned in the United States during Prohibition, but you can't really say that it removed the presence from the country. Illegal drugs are currently proibited in the United States, yet the government claims they intercept only 10% of what is smuggled into the country. Prisons in the United States don't allow drugs or weapons, yet does anyone seriously believe that they aren't present? And that is in one of the most strictly controlled environments currently implemented, barring a complete police state. When people say that the DC and New York gun bans don't work because guns are smuggled in from the surrounding areas with fewer laws, they fail to explain why the crime rates in those areas pale in comparison to DC and NYC.

<Climbing off of my soapbox. Really, it's just a small one.>

Cheers.

Today, 80 million US gun owners did not commit any crimes with their guns.