Carry on!

As mentioned in my little bio, I'm a bit of a gun nut. Ever since I read about the guy who was held up at gunpoint on his scooter not to far from here, I've been more careful to carry a firearm with me when I ride. I have a concealed carry permit so I'm covered if i want to conceal, but I've recently learned that PA allows open carry in most places.

I've been experimenting with open carry on my scoot. I don't know if I'm imagining things, but It seems that people aren't tailgating me as much. Kinda funny really. I noticed several times while riding today that a vehicle would come up behind me quickly, ride my tail for a few moments then suddenly fall back to a very respectful distance. It's not my reason for carrying at all, but if it engenders a little healthy respect for persons who notice the firearm, I'm O.K. With that. I also noticed that I don't seem to get passed quite so much while carrying openly. In a way it seems that the firearm has become an additional safety device.

As a disclaimer, I do not recommend that anyone carry a firearm openly or concealed unless they know their local laws and, most importantly, are competent in the use of their firearm should it become necessary to use it.

For any who are interested, I carry a Bersa Thunder 380 in matte black. It's a lightweight, small caliber handgun with a small form factor. It fits my hand well and has little percieved recoil, which makes it fun to use at the range. My son has fired it several times and has little difficulty managing the recoil. It's also fairly reliable and does not seem to jam as long as I use the right ammo. Federal FMJ Ammo jams periodically, but the hollow-point loads I put in it for self-defense feed very well.

Firearms are a good thing, in the hands of a competent, responsible user. It is always good when responsible individuals avail themselves of their second amendment rights. Law enforcement is only able to do so much, and sometimes it falls on the shoulders of responsible Americans to defend ourselves.