Living Car Free - Guns for Bikes?

The economics doesn't seem to add up in this article. It says people
in DR Congo are trading their weapons for bikes. It says the bikes
are worth $50.00 and make a big difference in peoples lives. This
implies that the weapons must be worth less than that or else the
warrior could sell the weapon and buy a bike and have beer money
left over.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5180144.stm

The assumption here being that they have only one gun...

Maybe they don't want to sell the gun to someone that is likely to shoot them or their family? I know a few Congolese, and they have been through hell and back...

The weapons being traded are most likely AK-47s (or more likely, AK-74s, but the difference between the two models is not that great). Africa has a glut of these rifles, either imported dirt-cheap from former Soviet-Bloc countries, given to the government as military aid, or made in local workshops. I once saw a documentary showing how very crude metal-working workshops in various African countries, and in Pakistan turn out astonishingly sophisticated copies of brand-name small arms. Many older-model military rifles designed before the 1960's are able to be manufactured in small machine shops. Some of the workmanship is superb.

In some areas of the continent, an AK-47 sells for as little as the equivalent of $ 20 USD. The recent UN Small-arms disarmament conference had a wealth of information on the proliferation of small arms in various parts of the world.

I'd keep my gun. I don't own a gun right now but if I was there.......

I wonder about the relative values. Does a transportational bike in the US $400 - $800 have about the same value as an AK-47? My impression is that we in the US put about the same relative value on bikes and small arms as the Congolese. I don't go into gun stores often and don't have a precise feel for what they cost here.

I think you're stuck in the US economic model and applying it to an eintirely different cultural and economic model.

Chances are very good that the people the program targets were *issued* guns (note the plural) and did not *buy* them. Bikes used in third-world countries are very different than the ones we're used to buying and seeing here. See BikeTown Africa & The Rodale Institute (http://www.rodaleinstitute.org/biketownafrica/) and follow the associated links for a $100 bike, that would probably be more bike than these folks could ever imagine owning.

So, if I'm in the targeted demographic for this program, and a have a couple of AKs kicking around that I got when I was conscripted, and someone comes along and says, "Hey, I'll give you this nice bike for one of your AKs." I'd do it.

Hell, I have a nice Browning over-and-under I'd be willing to trade for a nice bike.

I would gladly pay $ 100 for an AfricaBike. Just the thing for puttering hither and yon.

Hell, I have a nice Browning over-and-under I'd be willing to trade for a nice bike.
Heck, I have a nice bike ( http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=2746885&postcount=10 )I am trying to trade for a city bike but would be glad to settle for a nice Browning.

Heck, I have a nice bike ( http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=2746885&postcount=10 )I am trying to trade for a city bike but would be glad to settle for a nice Browning.
Sorry, not my cuppa. Unless you're willing to go for a Crosman.

they had a program like that in DC. $50 for a gun no questions asked. it was a big turn out as i recall.

Sorry, not my cuppa. Unless you're willing to go for a Crosman.
OK, but let me know if you change your mind.

I have a Browning Shot Gun I would trade for a (good) road bike, in my size.
But I have nuther ones I would not trade.

I wonder about the relative values. Does a transportational bike in the US $400 - $800 have about the same value as an AK-47? My impression is that we in the US put about the same relative value on bikes and small arms as the Congolese. I don't go into gun stores often and don't have a precise feel for what they cost here.

Untiul they were outlawed here recently a nice used 50 caliber rifle was $700.00 and up.

I originally thought this post was about the mounting of guns to bicycles.
In the case of Mad MAX living in a post apocalyptic world.
Things like how-to's

1. mouting a shotgun to your top tube.
2. automatic trigger fire in place of 9sp LX shifters.
3. handlebar mounted hand pistols.
4. grind your own black powder while riding.

It's good to know the people are giving up weapons of war for sastainable mobility.

On one of those cheesy cops shows several years ago, I saw a segment that included some guys who hit up a bank with handguns, then escaped on mountain bikes to which they'd strapped AK-47s to take care of the police; this allowed them to use trails through a forest to escape the police in their cars. When the police caught up, however, they couldn't actually get the AK-47s loose.

I originally thought this post was about the mounting of guns to bicycles.
In the case of Mad MAX living in a post apocalyptic world.
Things like how-to's

1. mouting a shotgun to your top tube.
2. automatic trigger fire in place of 9sp LX shifters.
3. handlebar mounted hand pistols.
4. grind your own black powder while riding.

It's good to know the people are giving up weapons of war for sastainable mobility.
Why give 'em up if you have both?;)
http://img111.imageshack.us/img111/1705/bsa1cpb1944du6.th.jpg (http://img111.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bsa1cpb1944du6.jpg)

http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/7288/machinegunonbikeoj9.th.jpg (http://img66.imageshack.us/my.php?image=machinegunonbikeoj9.jpg)

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/2576/marinebikerrp9.th.jpg (http://img96.imageshack.us/my.php?image=marinebikerrp9.jpg)

Yes I have a gun for my bike, why you ask?

I thought this thread was going in an entirely different direction.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b52/Gussick/gmnsldrbik.jpg

Yes I have a gun for my bike, why you ask?

What kind of gun? How do you mount / use it?


Thanks for the pictures and stories. Those are great!
BEST == machine gun mounted on a quadcycle. :eek: