mjac

Illegal?...In all circumstances? Surely you jest.

gregf83 

Not illegal...also not necessary to ride with knives and pepper spray around here. I think I’d find another hobby if I had to carry protection.

CoffeedrinkerNC

In Canada it's illegal to carry a weapon for the purpose of self-defense. And according to the Criminal Code, a weapon can be anything designed, used or intended to cause death or injury or even just to threaten or intimidate another person.

https://www.thecoast.ca/halifax/the-...nt?oid=4404040

mjac

Well I guesse Canada is a pretty passive lot. I wonder if this leads to many innocent people getting hurt.

aabb

What if I want to protect myself against dogs who are offleash by their dip**** owners? Man, Canada is great but this is stupid asf.

wolfchild

You are misinformed....It's not illegal to defend yourself when being attacked.

wolfchild

The law says that dogs must be kept on leash and under control. If an off leash dog charges you and attacks you, then you have a right to defend yourself.

mercator

This sort of uninformed opinion seems to be common among 'muricans. I wonder why that is?

wolfchild

Anything can be used as a weapon for self-defence.... A tooth pick or a pen could be used a weapon, a multi tool or a bike lock could be used as a weapon, a stainless steel water bottle can be used as a weapon.. You could use an inner tube to choke your attacker to death or you could shove a bike pump down your attackers throat and choke them to death, so that makes inner tubes and bike pumps deadly weapons.....I've been carrying various types of knives on me my whole life, I think of them as tools not as weapons and I would never pull out a knife on my attacker, I'd find an alternative.

OldTryGuy

Pick up bike and WHAM - BAM

alcjphil

We are anything but passive. Canada entered both World wars long before Americans did and fought in most of the toughest battles in both wars.However, we are not fearful. All types of violent crime rates in Canada are much lower than in the US. We have much less to be fearful about. We can be conciliatory, but do not confuse that with passiveness. They are not the same thing

bpcyclist

As I guy who used to be on the receiving end of an incalculable number of GSW and other violent crime victims professionally, I just find it so sad and depressing that other modern nations with whom we seem to have so much in common in every other way just do not have our issues in this arena--at all. We keep boastfully, in my view, telling everyone that we live in the greatest nation on earth. But I don't personally believe the greatest nation on earth would be in our current situation. Just my take, and everyone's MMV, of course.

CoffeedrinkerNC

I'm just reading and posting info from your country...

The laws around self-defence are a grey area

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/self-...-law-1.1229180

alcjphil

Oh, so a news story from 8 years ago is proof that we have a problem? Give me a break. If that is all you can come up with I am feeling pretty secure. I am not going to strap a knife onto my bike, and I am not going to carry industrial strength pepper spray. In 48 years of cycling I have never felt threatened by anyone on the side of the road. I feel a great deal of compassion for anyone outside Canada who suffers from these fears

indyfabz

In 1999 I rode across the U.S. unsupported with a small group of people that included a 76 year old originally from Canada. (He turned 77 during the tour.) Before moving to the states he had been in the RCAF. Spent two years in a Nazi POW camp. When the tour ended in Maine he started riding home to suburban Philadelphia (Turns out we didn’t live all that far from each other) until his wife said enough and picked him up in Connecticut. Guy was sweet but also tough as nails. He lived to be 91. RIP, Stu.

alcjphil

Thank you so much for that anecdote. That is only an anecdote. Canadians are not fearful people. We feel very free to do what we want to do and do not feel the need to arm ourselves when out in public
I feel great sympathy for USA citizens who feel unable to do that

wolfchild

Grey area doesn't mean it's illegal...The "grey area" has to do with interpretation if you used excessive force to defend yourself or if you used a reasonable force to defend yourself, it has nothing to do with your right to defend yourself or your family.

indyfabz

+1. One can get that from the first few sentences. Reading comprehension is fundamental.

Miele Man

I'm not kidding when I say that in Canada many times it seems as if the criminal has more rights than what the victim does. You had better be in what you think, and can prove, is a life threatening situation before using pepper spray on an assailant. If they get injured they're very likely to sue you and win.

Cheers

Miele Man

It is a grey area because often it's the COURTS who decide whether you used excessive force.

Cheers

wolfchild

For sure, it's a complex issue....But let me give you a simple scenario: If an attacker is coming at you with a broken bottle or a steel pipe or some other object and you are empty handed and you manage to knock your attacker down with your hands and subdue him, than it's obvious that you used reasonable force...If your attacker is coming at you empty handed and you spray him with military grade pepper spray and beat him unconscious with a steel pipe then it's obvious that you're the one who used excessive force.

CoffeedrinkerNC

Never seen military grade pepper spray, must be a way up north thing....

The thing is with your laws, the attackers does have more rights. You must prove your innocence.

aabb

Protect myself with what though?

wolfchild

Whatever it takes...Use anything and do anything that would prevent the dog from hurting you.

wolfchild

But isn't it the same way in the USA and many other countries around the world, where you have to prove that you are innocent and that your attacker was an aggressor who came at you and intended to hurt you ??