Originally Posted by
ItsJustMe
YOU don't. A quick glance at the news indicates that SOME gun owners shoot for any reason or no reason. Remember the cyclist a year or two back who was shot in the helmet by an off-duty firefighter (IIRC) because he was riding with his daughter on the bike and apparently that nutjob decided that shooting at the cyclist with the daughter on the bike was a good way to teach him a lesson about how dangerous things were.
The incident you remember happened in Asheville, on the other side of the state. The news makes sure you hear about every single incident. See later in post about difficulty in finding unbiased sources these days.
However, with roughly 89 firearms owned in the US per 100 people, you need to amend that "SOME" to "VERY, VERY FEW" gun owners. Seriously, if gun owners were as violent as the anti-gun news media hypes, there would not be ANY anti-gunners left alive.
Originally Posted by
ItsJustMe
I think it's a good idea to avoid pissing people off in general, but it's undeniable that some people become violent, including people carrying firearms. Having the knowledge that someone might be carrying couldn't hurt. I don't think it's practical to do any of this though.
Agreed about pissing people off. And that some people can become violent, it's human nature and an evolutionary survival trait.
Originally Posted by
ItsJustMe
Sure, if you run over a COP. Now get run over as a normal every day cyclist, and see if the cops will support the charge of assault with a deadly weapon or not. Unless there is proof that you were maliciously attempting to kill the cyclist, they will probably charge him with a traffic offense and fine him $200.
Unfortunately the more I look around the more I have to agree with you on this point. That's why I'm looking at mounting an aft-facing camera to complement my helmet cam, maybe an iON AirPro 2 or 3 for the wide angle. "your honor, does that look like the facial expression of a man who didn't see the cyclist, or does that look of fixed fury and determination, those hands clenched on the steering wheel, look like the expression of a man about to commit murder?"
Originally Posted by
ItsJustMe
Well, I'm riding with the camera. I am not opposed to firearms but I don't imagine in my area I'll ever need one, and I hate carrying extra junk around anyway, a half pound hunk of steel that I'll probably never use isn't something I care to hump around all the time.
I'm glad we've both got cameras and I hope you'll never been in a situation where you'll NEED the camera footage, and that I'll never need either the footage or the firearm. As to the weight, I'm a Clydesdale on a heavy tadpole festooned with lights and burdened with tools, spare tubes, office clothes, shower shoes, toiletries, spare batteries, etc. Heck, my body weight can vary by more than 2# a day. I don't even notice the additional 27oz in a chest rig under my jersey. It's like insurance or the camera footage--it's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
FYI, the main reason I carry while riding isn't people, drivers or otherwise. It's the #%%*& dogs. There were 3 large dogs on my commute that seemed to enjoy getting maced/pepper sprayed/bear sprayed. Animal control eventually got that bunch last season, but the owners have already replaced them, and they never tie them up. Wish my commute didn't go through the ghetto, but there are only so many routes from where there is housing to where I work.
so back to OP topic: Contour Roam2 on the helmet. Looking at mounting an aft facing wide-angle camera on a riser so it's at driver's face level.