Hi
It is a fair Q.

There was A thread posted 22 may 2001 by "Blurgh"

I'd like to quote part of my comment there:


"Anyhow, I don't believe in such protection, if you come to a situation of self defence, the last thing is to draw a gun or a knife. It will be your end for sure,they will always outnumber you. locals will be against you in kind of revenge,and you will not have the time and language to explain your side, and the authorities will be insulted that you took the law and hunt you as well.
My suggestion is to ride thinking of passive defence, do not enter alone to suspected areas. do not ride at night and ask other travelers on what is ahead."

Ride safely

Yoni

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Dare!
My ride from Dead horse to Ushuaia 2009 is at
www.harpatka.com
It's in hebrew but lots of pics and some translation

Yoni

You couldn't have put it any better.

It's a shame people feel it necessary to use this forum to slag off Yanks rather than to get them to think twice about the whole gun debate.

Firstly, I would love to understand why there would be a gun for guest use? I take it for entertainment shooting cans, which I would have loved to be able to do as a kid growing up as a European.

Secondly, the whole second amendment thing stems from the independence struggle as insurance for a militia to fight future invaders. It seems that since this has been faded from the minds and replaced with the notion that it's for safety walking down the street as some sort of vigilantly. People taking the law in their own hands. That's why we pay too much for a police force. That's years and cross generational indoctrination for ya. Can’t believe that people still think that guns are not the cause of violent crime. Without weapons (including fists!) there is no violent crime. Like that bar story. If there were no guns there would be a black eye, not a lung missing. But this is all irrelevant to his first question.

So lastly, the quote says it all. I have had a few occasions where I thought I could have done with a weapon. Mostly right after the event with the adrenaline still flowing around. The more I travelled the smaller that weapon became in my mind. Currently I’m toying with that spanner idea. But even then, if you hit some dude on the head with that, you can be f*cked as much as stabbing the guy, depending on how hard you hit him off course. You could use it as a deterrent, but you are upping the stakes. I reckon good things happen when having a positive mindset. The opposite of that is fear of things going wrong.

But if your question is related to wildlife, I think you have a different trip in mind than generally discussed here. You’ll probably find that you’d be lucky to see any large wildlife that would warrant a weapon. And in that case they’d probably be hunted enough to know to stay away from you.
Regarding bears though (bit of a pet fear for trekking in their terretory for me), haven’t there been cases of guys with guns still being killed or attacked? Just wondering though….

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Tacos Tyring Travels.com

I didn't have time to read through all the decent advice mixed with the self-congratulating drivel, and anti-Bush soapboxing. Bush is an idiot. Clinton was an idiot. Bush before him, too, was an idiot. Get over it. As a US citizen, without a criminal record, I will happily carry my weapons with pride. No, I will not show them to you, nor will I bully my way around with them. But, if I feel that you are threatening my or my family's life, during a purposeful crime against me (i.e.robbery/rape/attempted murder) then you better hope that you can overpower me because I will first warn you, and then if you continue the threat, shoot you. Simple as that.

The US second amendment has been left intact in order that we have the means to re-take our government if it gains a little too much power over the sheep that are also known as US citizens (come to think of it, could we currently be successful in such an endeavor...?)

That being said, living right on the US/Mexico border, I often see a sign placed next to the road on the way down to the crossing that states "Guns and ammo are illegal in Mexico" or something to that effect. Mexico would not hesitate to put a US citizen in jail for having even just a live bullet, in spite of the fact that it is acceptable for drug/human smugglers to be armed to the proverbial teeth. So with that, I have never, ever taken my guns across the border with me, nor will I ever do so. I would not even imagine trying to go further south with one, either.

I have read and spoken in person about many a successful extended journey by bike south of the US border. However, carrying guns is a personal choice, and one that you have to make yourself, and weigh the risks against the benefits. If it were legal, like in many of the US states, then I would say "go for it." But I can only imagine the mother of all bribes someone would extort out of you if you were caught in any of the countries.

BTW, Grant, I would never NOT go to Canada just because I couldn't take my pistol with me. Just as ridiculous someone might find me and my carrying of weapons, I, too find those people ridiculous whining that they couldn't take their guns into Canada, and thus did not go.

Please note: the difference between some of the obnoxious rantings I read on this thread and my opinion(s) is that I am not saying that I am right; it is just what I do and practice, and believe.

Interesting thread.

The United States fascination with guns is incredible.

School shootings, shooting at NASA you name it.

In just about all other countries the carrying of hand guns is illegal. In NZ the cops don't even carry hand guns, and the reason is related to perceived threat.

If you take a gun into a foreign country and get shot or land up in jail I'll be the first to tell you "it serves you bloody right"

I realize that this may upset some of you but: You yanks need to take a chill pill and get it out of your head that violent solutions to complex problems don't work.

In the mean time why don't you consider spending some more money on road safety training and defensive riding techniques. It ain't a gun wielding Mexican that's gonna kill you... It'll be a cage driver failing to give way at an intersection.