Open Carry and Free Beer, let’s really fix the RNC in Cleveland, and do we need a “No Drive” list?

LEO in Cleveland have been asking (pleading, begging, weeping) for a temporary reprieve from OH’s open carry law because it’s impossible to tell the “good guy with a gun” from the deranged maniac out to shoot up the convention. Not wanting to be accused of being anti-gun I have a suggestion: Keep open carry, and set up free beer stations on every corner. The ones not wanting to shoot up the convention will grab a pint or 12, and get happy. The ones wanting massive mayhem and body counts will eschew the alcohol while continuing to carry.

Obviously I don’t want to see someone shoot up the convention. After all those people have families that love them just like the rest of us. I’m just taking things to their logical conclusion. If more guns make us safer then making sure everyone has one means that everyone is perfectly safe, right? And if local (and Federal) LEO want to prevent open carry on the grounds of safety, how can those two statements be reconciled? I mean it’s almost as if more guns don’t make us safer.

I just want to know in the wake of the Nice terror truck attack when the US will adopt a “No Drive” list. Last report I read stated more than 50 of the 84 victims died from getting hit by the truck, and that most of those shot are expected to survive.This attack puts the Orlando Some Asshole to shame, much higher body count over a much larger area (more than a mile!). I mean seriously, how long will people be able to just walk up and put down a credit card and walk away with a WMD with significant room for explosives when you run out of steam from just running people over? I mean it’s like a 2-for-one murder weapon sale. Run over as many as you can, then detonate the massive shrapnel disperser in the back and go out in a literal blaze of glory destroying as many infidels as remain in the blast radius. Of course you will not be around to personally assess the damage…

PSA, Opus

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Someone I know has died, and the Feed

A person I have had conversations with over the Internet has been killed by a right hook while riding in the bike lane in PDX. Kirke Johnson was one of the more if not the most prolific senders of links to this blog, and the body sock on his LWB ‘bent was ANSI Safety Lime in the latest picture I saw of him and his bike. Links: Collision involving FedEx truck kills man riding on Cornell Road in Cedar Mill also Bicyclist killed in crash with semi truck in Cedar Mill and Longtime PCC employee, bike enthusiast killed when hit by FedEx truck and finally Friends remember Kirke Johnson, identified as man killed in Cedar Mill collision

A graphic that shows why large trucks should not be allowed in urban areas (not what the poster was trying to show). What Cyclists Need To Know About Trucks The original purpose of posting the graphic was to show cyclists how to ride safely around large trucks, but the effect is a demonstration of why large trucks should not be allowed in places where there will be large numbers of pedestrians or cyclists.

More on Bono’s wreck. Bono Undergoes Surgery After N.Y.C. Bike Accident Seriously now, what did he hit to cause that kind of damage? How fast was he going? If he ran into something just off the bike path, what kind of diversion or other mitigation was available to reduce the impact of a cyclist getting forced off the road in this location. Notice that I am framing this as an infrastructure problem, not blaming Bono for the wreck, as all the reports are that he went off the path to avoid another cyclist.

Still in NYC, a cop tackles a cyclist off his bike to give him a ticket for “running” a red light. Photo: Cop Tackles Cyclist In Canal Street GOTCHA! Bike Trap and Precinct Where Drivers Killed Seniors in Crosswalks Ramps Up Bike Tickets and the source Ticket Tackling, or How the NYPD Pulls Over Cyclists on Canal Street As one person in the comments section pointed out this would be like doing the PICT maneuver and wrecking someone’s car for running a red light without ever showing lights or using the siren.

Still in NYC, bike lanes will continue to be built at the same rate as before. De Blasio’s DOT Will Build Bike Lanes At Bloomberg-Era Rate As pointed out in the picture at the top of the article, cops need a place to park when they are making donut runs.

Update on the gun-toting VA driver that buzzed 5 cyclists earlier this month. Driver arrested in Richmond for threatening cyclists with gun

A little lesson on riding in a peloton from Oz. Cyclists code of conduct aimed at educating bunch riders

I can’t help it, I just went “D’aaawww” when I read the headline… Cyclist on world tour pedals 200 miles across Turkey with injured stray dog in a specially-made basket to find it a new home

And those were all the links I could find that didn’t make me crazy(er).

Billed @€0.02, Opus the unkillable badass Poet