R.I.P First Amendment.

Why not a gun?

What if the bad guy has a gun? Go ahead and pull a can of mace on a guy with a gun. Let's see how that ends for you.

Mace is only an irritant to people who've never been maced. It's disorienting and scary. It doesn't put you on the ground like a taser does. And anyone that's been maced a couple times (or is high) will deal with the irritation later, after taking a few retaliation swings at you. Only now they'll be more pissed off.

Mace is a poor defense weapon for that reason.

Police use it as a non lethal option, but will have a hand on their sidearm in case you don't stop when maced.

Mace is good for dealing with animals though if you ride where there is the threat of an animal attack. Mace is great for that because it'll scare the snot out (literally) of a dag or coyote or something like that, but ultimately do no lasting harm to the animal.

Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it, as they say.

The people in this thread trying to make the OP in a racist are pathetic.

It's ironic that you are strongly insinuating the OP is preoccupied with race, yet some of you accusing him of that are the only ones who refuse to stop talking about race.

because we’re talking about three kids on bikes messing with someone. Pulling a gun in such circumstances is, IMO, a maniacal escalation. There are times when a gun is warranted, but I don’t think this is one. You want to discourage them, not execute them. Remember that old adage of “never pull a gun unless you intend to shoot, never shoot unless you intend to kill”?

I'm surprised this rant hasn't been closed or deleted in it's entirety. Hopefully all our mods are out enjoying a day on the bike and will attend to this shortly. Nevertheless, it's sad that the OP, so quick to identify the perps by race and to imagine violent crime is increasing absent all evidence to the contrary, could shamelessly refer to another member as a fool.

I took Captain Kirk karate when I was at the Starfleet Academy.

Closed for Moderator review

To the extent that this thread is inextricably a racial discussion, not a cycling discussion, it is hereby permanently closed. Sadly, in this country the topic of race is just a little too dicey to expect reasonable discussion. Sad.