| Subject: | cyclists and guns |
| Date: | 01/17/2001 12:28 AM |
| From: | Michael O'Hair |
|
Ian Fuller wrote: Oh, for the good old days when cyclists could wear six-guns. Something to fan the flames ... A law student I knew thirty years ago was pedaling his way over to Louis & Clark when someone backed a Buick station wagon "full of Cub Scouts" out into the street, decked him, and then drove off. He nailed her for hit and run and got his last year of school paid for, along with a new 10-speed. He did some research and found that in roughly 1921, the Oregon legislature passed a law that allowed those who rode horses or "two-wheeled vehicles" and had been harassed by motorists to carry a gun for self defense. It may have been "sundowned" years ago, but it shows that the problem has been around a long time and that someone took it seriously, probably the equestrian set. On one hand I do not like the idea of a bunch of caffeine-crazed adrenaline addicts packing guns, but on the other hand people tend to be polite when they know they could wind up dead. It would be an interesting experiment to suit up a bunch of riders in jerseys that said "Team Smith & Wesson" and see how many yahoos harass them. Michael O'Hair |
