armed while riding?

[jax BMW]

My riding generally involves out-of-state trips by myself throughout the Southeast region. On occasion I will stay at motels, but I generally stay at campgrounds in isolated areas. I guess my biggest fear is being stranded on a well equiped scooter and breaking down along side the road. I recently received my concealed weapons permit which is observed by most states. Am I the only traveling motorcyclist who carries a firearm?

[GypsyRR]

No.

[gunga din]

Judging by the number of firearms' deaths in the US, I'd say it was pretty unlikey you are the only gun toting motorcyclist in the States...

Statistic suggest over 29,000 US citizens managed to fatally shoot themselves, or someone else in 2001. Not a pretty statistic..

I prefer to ride with two arms outstretched, neither of which are firearms.

Gunga Din

[ebincia]

My riding generally involves out-of-state trips by myself throughout the Southeast region. On occasion I will stay at motels, but I generally stay at campgrounds in isolated areas. I guess my biggest fear is being stranded on a well equiped scooter and breaking down along side the road. I recently received my concealed weapons permit which is observed by most states. Am I the only traveling motorcyclist who carries a firearm?

What does this have to do with motorcycling? Wheather a person carries a weapon or not is a very personal issue that should be discussed elsewhere.
No offence taken , or implied just my opinion.

[Beemeridian]

wrong forum - needs moved

[Ves]

Might be in the wrong forum... but it's a good subject. You have to admit that we bikers do tend to wonder of the beaten path at times.

I don't. But I have considered it. Approaching the world with two outstretched arms is a good approach. But, what if it doesn't work?

Some time ago I saw a video on Youtube that really made me think about it. Not bike related, but certainly illustrative of what could happen. I'll give you the 30 second version.

What you see is two guys in a pickup truck start following this guy and his girl in a convertible... They didn't like the way the guy in the car looked at them or something... They're out in the country... The guy in the car makes some turns but the guys in the truck don't go away and they keep screaming poo at them... (they thought it was funny to be filming all this...) Finally the guy in the car turns down a dirt road and they're like "We've got him now." They get to this remote parking area. Now, you have to understand, the folks in the convertible had done nothing to provoke these idiots that I could see. What do the guys in the truck do? They take out their bats and get out of the truck and start for the car... still filming... What does the guy in the car do... he takes a gun out of his glove box... You can bet their attitude changed real fast... camera starts pointing at the ground... The guy and his girl took their camera and left them standing there... Bet you they'll think twice about pulling stuff like that again...

There's another aspect to this also... If you're out camping in the countryside... you may have to worry about more than just some hicks in a pickup truck...

Yeah, it's a personal choice. But those that choose to carry will probably not get much of an argument from me. But if you do choose, you should ask yourself... Am I the hick in the pickup truck.. or the couple in the convertible.... Cause we don't need hicks carrying bats AND guns...

[boxermania]

Common guys....give the guy a break....2 posts, he obviously doesn't know the rules. Besides he is just looking for input...

[Biff's R]

I have not. I guess you need to know what states you are going to or through and whether you are permitted there. If I were camping in bear territory, I would definitely consider it. I want to have something to keep me from being dinner.

[Sunbeemer]

I carry a 2 oz areosol can of dye-indicating, high-strength, oleo-capsicum pepper spray tucked into my handguard. I figure it will deter and delay an attacker long enough for me to escape, and I'm much more willing to use it than a pistol if the need arises.

Shooting somebody (and if you carry a gun, you should be prepared to do that, otherwise it's a liability to you), entails all sorts of legal, moral, and conscience issues that would undoubtedly negatively impact my future quality of life, while incapacitating an attacker (including wild animals) with pepper spray would be effective deterence without causing permanent injury to either party (including me!)

My $.02

[OU812]

I would carry a gun if my state (ILL) issued conceal-carry permits. They do not, and this pisses me off to no end. Like was stated before, if you carry one, be ready to use it. Know your weapon well!

[frbank6]

Judging by the number of firearms' deaths in the US, I'd say it was pretty unlikey you are the only gun toting motorcyclist in the States...

Statistic suggest over 29,000 US citizens managed to fatally shoot themselves, or someone else in 2001. Not a pretty statistic..

I prefer to ride with two arms outstretched, neither of which are firearms.

Gunga Din

Judging by the number of people starving to death in India, I would think there would be higher priorities than noting anything going on in the US, especially those protected in the Bill of Rights. Case in point:
http://www.ambedkar.org/News/Starvrearsits.htm

How's that for numbers? 50,000,000!

[1150929]

Not trying to offend, but you DO realize that to anyone outside the US you look both trigger happy and paranoid. To think about going for a ride without thinking about firearm protection is an existance I don't want.

[OU812]

If the US did not have so many low life butt crevice, we would not need guns. The police are never there when you need them. I little note: At the AR bash last fall, a few of us stopped at a McD's for a snack. As we left a Vietnam vet told us some punks had emerged from the woods behind the building and started handling our helmets and touching the bikes. He told them to get away as he knew they were not theirs. They were on some kind of drugs he suspected as they told him to mind his own business. He then told them he was armed and it was their last chance to move on. They did. I thanked him for doing the right thing, and wished more people like him were in this world.

[frbank6]

Not trying to offend, but you DO realize that to anyone outside the US you look both trigger happy and paranoid. To think about going for a ride without thinking about firearm protection is an existance I don't want.

None taken, but I'm blissfully unconcerned about my image overseas, and keenly aware of the fact I am responsible for my own and my family's safety. The victims of riots in LA and post-Katrina discovered the police were under no legal obligation to protect them. And, though raised in a family with literally hundreds of firearms, I've never been in a fight, never thought about shooting someone, and most importantly, have never personally known anyone who was shot. I might meet your stereotype of a 'trigger-happy, paranoid' American, but the facts don't support it.

We live in a dangerous world. It may come as a shock, but some people are evil. Those people do not abide by gun laws. They are armed regardless. And they seek out defenseless people. Witness the story last week in the UK of an elderly man killed with a BB gun, or the Hutu/Tutsi butchery going on with machetes. Brutal, senseless killing, not the fault of the instruments of death, but of the hearts and minds of those behind them.

Far better men than me decided to risk their lives and fortunes and document my God-given rights in the Constitution. Each generation since has produced individuals willing to die to protect those rights. Who am I to say they are wrong?

[OU812]

+ 1 on what frbank6 wrote!

[JCsman]

No is right.

And I'd certainly wonder about the basis for the 29,000 statistic.... it's much higher than what I've seen.

More telling, in this context would be how many folks, legally permitted for concealed carry, shot someone other than in self defense...... the numbers are very, very low, international images of the OK corral notwithstanding.

But, I do suppose this is a better fit in another forum.

[awagnon]

It depends on where I'm riding. If I'm alone and will be in a rural area, especially camping, I carry. Also, when my wife camps alone, which is often at the end of a jeep trail where there's nobody but her, or she's hiking alone, she carries a 9 mm in a pouch behind her fanny pack. We both have concealed carry permits, which are embarrassingly easy to obtain in Utah. And, she's a much better shot than I am. Would we use them in the right situation? Probably.

[1150929]

Lowlifes are everywhere, in every country, but issues are resolved daily without the need for firearms. We’re nearing 7 billion people in this world so there’s always going to be tragic stories of lowlifes killing innocents. Handing every innocent a gun won’t change that; they’ll only become more merciless and more cowardly in their actions. If someone really wants to take you out, it doesn’t matter if you have an Uzi tucked down your pants, they’ll do it, and use your Uzi in their next crime.

frbank6, not to sound preachy, but I consider myself a world citizen first, and I do care about how the world perceives me and my country. Your interpretation of your “God given” rights in the constitution is a never ending debate, but most believe that the “right to bear arms” was written in the military context. Either way, it was written in ancient times when it tolerated slavery and limited woman’s rights, among other abuses. I like to think we progress, we learn and become wiser and evolve.
Either way, I still mean no disrespect. I got little patience for the Anti-American sentiment that I often hear. But let's understand that there are better ways, life is often a journey in understanding how little we really know.

[frbank6]

Since it's all about 'progress', our founders also didn't have television or the internet, but I think we'd all agree freedom of speech encompasses those formats. The document might be 'ancient', but it works. The huge wave of people coming here at all costs to be free give testimony to that fact.

By the way, if the second amendment is a 'collective' right, as some falsely assert, why are all the other rights listed in the Bill of Rights individual?

Read the federalist papers for just a few minutes...you'll find out what the founders meant in a hurry. And it has nothing to do with the national guard.

[OU812]

An armed society is a polite society. If you look at the crime rates for states that have enacted right to carry laws, they are only going down for violent crime, while auto theft is going up. (chicken Sh*ts).