Reasons to Bike Armed

I’ve explained why it’s a good idea to carry a gun when biking. Concealing a firearm while biking is difficult and openly carrying one will certainly get you some attention, especially in Minneapolis. Since I don’t give two shits what other people think about me the latter issue doesn’t bother me so the former is of no consequence either. Still, people inevitably want to know why I’m carrying a gun while biking (usually they ask in a somewhat hysterical manner, as if what I’m doing is going to harm them in some way). My reason is simple, there are some very violent people out there:

A cyclist who’s spent the last two years delivering coffee by bike for Peace Coffee narrowly avoided a flaming Molotov cocktail tossed at him Wednesday afternoon from the 15th Avenue bridge spanning Minneapolis’ Midtown Greenway.

[…]

Things tossed from the overpasses are well-known hazards to Greenway riders, said Ditlefsen. He said he knows someone who had a grocery cart tossed at them. Luckily, it missed.

Molotov cocktails and shopping carts raining from the sky? Talk about a hostile environment! I bring up these incidents because of the amount of danger they presented. Had the Molotov or the shopping car hit their intended targets it’s very likely those targets would be in the hospital or graveyard. It’s also fairly safe to assume that people willing to throw Molotov cocktails and shopping carts are cyclists have no moral issues with assault and murder. Who’s to say those individuals won’t lie in wait on the trail, knock a passing cyclists to the ground, and beat him to death? The fact that there are people willing to injure or kill cyclists is what motivates me to carry a gun on my rides.