Coffee

[burkbuilds]

Love the Doonesbury's! When I was in high school (late 70's early 80's) somebody cut out and laminated an entire book full of doonesbury cartoons and donated the book to our school library, good reading!

[mrlmd1]

Most of the holsters have some sort of strap that clips over the handle/hammer of the gun so it doesn't fall out and is not easily removable by a bystander. Ever see a gun in a cop's holster on his belt? I don't think you could get that out of there that easily.

[alanmcorcoran]

Some of them do look a little beefier than others, but many just seem to have nothing more than a "snap" holding them in place. I think cops have far more awareness, training and quicker reaction time than the public. (Some of them are even in pretty good shape!)

I will not be surprised when I read the first story of an open carry wannabe getting held up, or worse, with his own gun.

Speaking of holster's, I still haven't broke down and picked up my $90 chrome cup holder. Lately I've mainly been riding the GZ to work, so now maybe I'll have to get one for each bike...

[Sarris]

You feeling bad for the old girl??

:poke2:

[dhgeyer]

Originally Posted by alanmcorcoran

I will not be surprised when I read the first story of an open carry wannabe getting held up, or worse, with his own gun.

As you say, it'll be the first such story either of us has ever heard of. And people have been open carrying in NH and Vermont since forever, since it has never been illegal here. I've heard anecdotal stories of cops "eating their own gun", but have never heard a verifiable account of it happening, and have never even heard any account of it happening to a civilian.

Some folks don't like guns, and aren't comfortable with others owning and/or carrying them. They can think of all kinds of things to worry about. And they all seem to have a friend who had a cousin who knew somebody that had some bad experience related to guns. Of course bad things do happen with guns. But by and large gun ownership and open/concealed civilian carry has been shown in the largest and most comprehensive studies to be socially beneficial on balance.

Ask yourself how many mass shootings have happened in places that were not "gun free zones"?

I've carried concealed most of my adult life, legally in states where that was possible, otherwise not. I'm pretty familiar with the range of equipment available. Some holsters have nothing keeping the gun in place other than friction. Others have varying degrees of security. A lot of police use a "triple lock" system. I don't know exactly how that works, but I don't think I'd care for it. I like what's called a "thumb break" system. It holds the gun securely, but a quick flick of the thumb releases it.

Lately I've let my license lapse and haven't been carrying. I should fix that. It's on my to-do list.

In the meantime, with or without a license, in NH I could carry openly if I wanted to. I've only done that once, at an organized event to advance second amendment civil rights. The only advantage to open carry is that, if enough people do it, people will get over their irrational fear of guns. It'll work the same way the other civil rights movements have worked. The disadvantage of open carry is that, with all the armed citizens carrying concealed, the crooks don't know who's an easy mark and who can fight back, so everyone is safer.

[alanmcorcoran]

Originally Posted by Sarris

You feeling bad for the old girl??

Maybe a little. There's a couple of other motivators - the thing runs like crap if I don't ride it regularly, it's only 6.5 miles to work and I can go backroads all the way (15 lights, though) and, recently, there has been heavy traffic on the way home and the GZ splits lanes more easily than the Strat (esp on the backroads.) Before I put the saddlebags on the Geezer, I had to bungee my lappy to the bitch seat, a strategy with a single point of failure. Now I have to buckle up the stupid bags I bought, but it feels a lot less risky. It still struggles with the uphill climb and I don't exactly look like a badass (I got pwned by a dude on a Ninja 250 today taking off from a red light [got me to thinking about maybe getting one of those as a replacement...]) but it's probably the best tool for the commute job.

[alanmcorcoran]

Originally Posted by dhgeyer

people will get over their irrational fear of guns.

I'm neither pro nor anti-gun myself. I am anti-authority, so my attitude is that if cops and security guards and TSA guys, etc. can own guns, then I should be able to own one too. (I don't actually own any real guns yet - been in my "someday" list for a long time. I do own a BB gun! Seriously!)

I don't have a fear of guns, but I do find the lethality and power of them sort of fascinating.

When I was a scout I shot .22's and revolvers and earned the Rifle merit badge. There's a local indoor range where I learned how to handle various makes of 9 mm's and .45's and two years ago I learned how to skeet shoot (shotgun.) I think I'd like to get a .45 and a "home defense" style pump shotgun someday, but the background check and concern about theft has dampened my impulses. The reality is that unless my home gets invaded, I really can't shoot anywhere but at a range.

When I used to camp, I often thought it'd be nice to have something in the glove box. But then, having a gun might also get me in trouble (I tend to have a low level of tolerance for outdoor idiocy and it would be pretty stupid to go to jail for shooting drunk boom boxers keeping me up all night.)

[patrick_777]

Originally Posted by alanmcorcoran

(I got powned by a dude on a Ninja 250 today taking off from a red light [got me to thinking about maybe getting one of those as a replacement...])

You got pwned because the Ninja is faster than the GZ. But your ass and back didn't hurt as bad as his though when you reached your destination.

[dhgeyer]

Originally Posted by patrick_777

You got pwned because the Ninja is faster than the GZ. But your ass and back didn't hurt as bad as his though when you reached your destination.

Actually, that's only true for some people. For me, the riding position on the Ninja 250 was more comfortable on longer rides. The seat on the Ninja is certainly no worse than the seat on the GZ250. At least that's true for the Ninja we had, which was the old style. The Ninja 250, as you know, isn't an extreme crotch rocket configuration. The riding position is only slightly forward, and your feet are under you. For me, that is a lot easier on my back, which is what tends to hurt first on long rides. I think it all depends on how we're built. Both of those bikes could do with a better stock seat, especially since they have no aftermarket support. It won't happen, though, since most people get bigger bikes if they're going any distance.

[mrlmd1]

Another one today since we're on the topic of guns and coffee