Commodus

I think you guys are being a bit harsh. He seems to have thought it through, and is aware of the objections being made here.

That said, I agree it's a bad idea. I'm more curious about where the heck this guy lives though. Somalia?

Rootman

Agreed stupid idea, you are setting yourself up to:

• Get shot by someone who pulls a REAL gun on YOU when you pull out this one
• Get arrested, brandishing something that even LOOKS like a weapon with the intent to USE it as a weapon is illegal in a lot of areas.
• Get arrested if you drive off an attacker and then someone claims YOU were the aggressor, even if you were completely 100% in the right it's your word against theirs "Officer I was just standing there with by buddies when this dude rides up and pulls his gun on us . . ."
• Get arrested for carrying a concealed weapon, most times it doesn't matter if it's real or not, no license (which is required in MOST areas) then you can be arrested.
• Get th s$#t beat out of you, pull something like a gun on someone - even in self defense - and prove you can't use it might be reason enough for a beating.

Is losing a bike and some money worth going to jail, having a record, getting injured and possibly getting killed? Oh, and by the way if you ARE killed there is a very real possibility of your heirs being sued by the other party for a good number of reasons - do you want to put your family through that?.

IF you are going to do this then do it right, get a license, a real gun and training to use it. Else get something else to carry IF LEGAL, pepper spray or a tazer.

Brandonub

I'd much rather pick a better area to ride than escalate an armed conflict with a weapon that's not even a weapon.

Someone thinking something true and coming to an absolutely absurd conclusion doesn't mean that everyone's obliged to pretend he's come to a reasonable conclusion.

Campag4life

There in lies the problem. The guy has thought it through and still came to the wrong conclusion.
Darwin made a lot of sense.

lmcq784

I'll add my little bit to the pool of "BAD IDEA" comments.

I won't add to the legal ramifications already stated, and they're all good reasons why not to carry a FAKE gun.

Carrying a FAKE firearm/weapon is the worst idea in self defense because it justifies an escalation for the other party, while it leaves you with nothing to defend yourself with. If you're gonna carry a gun, carry a real one. And do NOT carry it until you have trained with it, until you're at least proficient with it. Carrying a gun not knowing how to use it properly and efficiently/proficiently usually end up with self-injury, or worse yet, getting it taken from you and used against you.

Safety is your concern. Don't make it worse by carrying a gun that might make it worse for you.

st3venb

In AZ you can carry concealed without a permit.

Using a knife, or a stun gun is a bad idea...

What happens when someone confronts you with a real gun after you've pulled your fake gun?

banerjek

If someone is going to attack you, they're not going to give you enough advance warning to display a weapon (let alone use it) unless they're particularly stupid. Attackers who give their victims a chance to prepare themselves won't last long. Waving a toy weapon around is the worst idea of all since you could provoke someone into shooting you to avoid being shot themselves.

But.....

Exactly -- get 'bent!

hhnngg1

I'm going to say it - I feel that people who feel the need to carry real or fake guns around in public, have serious insecurity issues, and that that gun, real or fake, isn't helping it one bit and in fact will rapidly escalate any bad situation to a horrible one.

I'm sure some gun nuts with heatedly disagree with this one, but that's my take. This isn't a military society, and weapons that kill should be restricted to officers trained in civilian use. I'm going to let hunters go since that's their right, but that's a far different situation from packing heat with the intent to threaten or even kill people.

WhyFi

What could possibly go wrong?

teflondog

I'm assuming the "HB" in the OP's name stands for Huntington Beach. In California, the only time you can lawfully draw a weapon is to prevent great bodily harm to yourself or in defense of others. Carrying a fake gun is more likely to draw suspicion from the cops than carrying a real one due to perceived intention.

I think you should carry pepper spray, which should be enough to ward off 3 hostiles if you buy the larger dispenser. In California, the only way to legally carry a gun while cycling is to have it unloaded and stored in a locked container. That isn't ideal since it would take you at least 10 seconds to unlock the case and load the gun. It's much faster to deploy pepper spray or a knife if you're being attacked. I always carry a 3" folding knife when I'm riding since it has multiple uses aside from self defense.

Astrozombie

Like the guy at nnssd.com says, you have to be prepared mentally to pull a gun, your adrenaline will pump and you have to read the persons body language to know if you should use it to take a life, while gambling with yours!!

What i did was i went and got myself a used $100 road bike and keep my nice bike for the weekend or rides in nice neighborhoods. Some dude tried to clothesline me off of a new "decent" looking bike that wasn't even all that expensive, so i sold it.
If you've got carbon or titanium save it for GMR or PCH or whatever with your buddies...

zandoval 

Everyone should know how to handle and maintain firearms - Even if you don't believe in them - If you are going to carry a fire arm then do so - And do it legally...

I can think of nothing but bad things that could happen to someone who brandishes a toy firearm...

I do support your right to keep and bare toy or real firearms fully...

motorthings

thanks for the link....excellent reading!

st3venb

Project much?

I'm not a "gun nut" just like I doubt you'd like for me to imply that you're a communist or socialist anti-gun liberaltard.

I carry a firearm, much like when I was single I carried a condom. My theory is, I'd rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it. I carry concealed, so nobody knows that I have a firearm; and I hope that no day comes that will expose everyone around me to the fact that I carry on a constant basis. And yes, I've been in heated arguments and even fights... with never the intention of drawing a firearm... Don't use the hyperbole argument that anytime something goes wrong the gun owner is going to start shooting... as a matter of fact, look up crime rates for CCW holders... You'll see they're basically non-existant.

I understand control, and common sense... (I think our cross state line and 4473's should be tightened up)... but the firearm isn't the source of the problems in our society; and trying to take it away from people who are responsible isn't the answer to curbing the behavior of those that have mal-intent. Plus, when you take away guns from your society... what's to stop someone... say... oh hitler (he was big fan of taking all guns away from everyone) from happening?

Again, it's not about the gun, my firearm doesn't need a leash... it's an inanimate object and cannot act on it's own. It requires action on my part, and responsibility on my part to do anything. Stop blaming an inanimate object for society's problems.

Pug

I can't say anything about the fake gun that hasn't already been said . . . but are you seriously OK with people throwing beer bottles at you?

teflondog

Out of curiosity, what would you do if a couple armed felons broke into your home at night? How would you protect your family? Call 911 and wait for the police to arrive?

I'm not being sarcastic. I'm genuinely interested to see things from another perspective.

hhnngg1

No, not projecting.

I'm just being 100% honest when I say that as a civilian in the United states, I cannot think of a single confrontation for myself that I would be better served wielding a gun, concealed or unconcealed. You can come up with some outlandish violent scenarios, but my reply is that you should have paid better attention before getting yourself into that situation in the first place.

I'm also not saying all folks are gun nuts, but I find this notion of needing to carry firearms in the United States for protection from other people totally ridiculous. Great britain has already decided this and outlawed guns in the civilian population, as have many other 1st world countries. In fact, it's pretty strange when even after a rash of unfortunate shootings such as Columbine etc., that there is no political or social movement to even eliminate rapid fire weapons from the populace at large. There is NO reason why a civilian should require a semiautomatic pistol or rifle in society.

And don't be blind to the role of guns in increasing risk of deaths. If you gave guns to everyone on streets, even with training, odds are 100% that the rate of death through shootings would go up signficantly. There are simply too many situations where you THINK it's needed, but your judgment in the heat of the moment is wrong, as it the recent case in Florida about stand your ground.

st3venb

As a gun owner, I'd rack the one shell of my 590a1 in the tube into the chamber... stick a few more rounds in the tube from the butt stock ammo holder... hide behind my bed with my wife and dial 911. Announcing very loudly that I'm armed and ready to shoot whoever was in the house... then I'd wait for the cavalry to arrive while informing them of the schematic of my house that I keep hidden under the flower pot at my front door... and my location and that I'm armed.

tagaproject6

Some people would just comply with any demand and hope and pray that it's over soon and that they don't die.

VeeDubOne

As noted earlier, OP seems like a reasonable, literate guy who has done some thinking. Though how he arrived so effortlessly to conclude that a toy gun is a good idea, beats me. This is a sure fire way to get killed or at best jailed. The downside to this idea is exponentially greater than any upside. Dont do it. Just ride elsewhere or sign up for spinning instead.

st3venb

I'm not going to justify you with a reason... Just like I wouldn't ask you to justify me for a reason to support your first amendment right. When you start justifying your rights you're on the path to losing them.

I have managed to avoid 99% of the situations that were dangerous for my family, friends and I... because I grew up in South Phoenix, I know when people are acting hanky and with ****ty intent. This does not mean that I'm always ready for any situation, that's impossible. But, I carry because I know that while the odds are not in favor of me being in a violent confrontation that will require my firearm... I'd still rather be ready; than on my knees begging some stranger to not shoot my wife or myself.

Also... there was a guy in texas that managed to shoot a whole bunch of people with a bolt action rifle... so the idea that semi-automatic weapons are the problem is also a copout.

hhnngg1

If a couple armed felons broke into my house at night the LAST thing I want to do is shoot at them and put myself and family at risk.

I'd tell them where the money and jewelry is, and hope they get out as quickly as possible. Only after everyone's safe would I call the police.

And I'm no wuss. I'm trained enough in various martial arts and strong enough that I can readily take down most adults (I routinely put down guys from the good HS wrestling team when I was younger just to demonstrate, at their request.) It's just not a good idea to escalate a violent situation with lethal force, if you manage to kill the assailant. The legal fallout from that alone would end my career - not worth it, even during a robbery.

Giving armed felons a reason to use lethal force against you, is the stupidest idea I could think of. Most armed felons are not rational, intelligent beings who are weighing risk/benefits. They show up with guns to intimidate, but are likely easily scared (or bullied) into firing them if you shoot first. The dumbest thing to do is to give them ANY reason to fire on you with their trigger-happy fingers.

eja_ bottecchia

To the nth degree. If you are gonna pack heat, pack real heat.

Please reconsider.

Brandonub

I personally live on the fourth floor of an apartment building, so there's no plausible chance of this happening. If I lived in a single family home, I'd flee the house. I don't have kids and I don't ever intend to, so that's not really a factor.

I'd also note that home invasions are quite rare, and invasions that end in bodily harm to the occupants are much more rare than mistakes with firearms that injure the owner or others. I'm pretty much a numbers guy, and I'm not about to increase my risk of bad things happening on the off chance that someone will break into my house with the intent of hurting me.

st3venb

I sincerely hope that you never have to put this idea to the test... and I hope that if you do, it works out well for you.