Concealed Carry & Homeland Threats?

[papaone]

I am sure that many of us have thought about concealed carry and homeland terrorism. Care to express any of your thoughts and the part we ,as legal carry citizens, might play if it breaks out in our cities on a large scale?

Thanks for your input
Dennis

 

[cerberus]

Defending ones own

I always will feel better being armed today it's each persons duty to be ready to defend yourself and family. Just think if the people on that airline over PA back on 9/11 had been armed. Just maybe they might be alive today. I know it's never ever going to happen our Goverment allowing us to fly armed but I for one think it just might be a real good idea.

 

[armoredman]

It is highly unlikely we will be able to affect terrorism with our concealed handguns - 155gr 9mm JHP is notoriously ineffective against airliners. Also,many, if not all major terrorist targets are NO FIREARMS signed. Oh, well, I don't go to those places anyway.
However, terrorist bombers have been thwarted in Israel by armed citizens. Get as much training as you can, to use those CCW peices appropriately as possible, on the wild chance that it will be up to you, and you alone, to save two thousand lives.

 

[Rickstir]

Call me a profiler. I work in a college town that is hip-deep with Arabs. I make a concious effort to actually look at the drivers of vehicles, particularly vans and uhaul types. Got 911 on my speed dial. It takes me about 5 minutes to get out of town on my way home (another 55 mins.). I am watchful while close to town. There is a nuclear reactor in town at the college and another commercial one about 40 miles on the other side of town, away from the direction I travel. If I lived down there I would be parnoide even more.

 

[kulika]

you never know

quote:

It is highly unlikely we will be able to affect terrorism with our concealed handguns

___________________________________________________

Read Clancy's Teeth of the Tiger (now out in paperback) for what is a very likely scenario. It is my belief that terrorists will create far more fear by hitting us where we least expect and are least prepared, such as middle America malls. I shudder to think that my family will be "protected" in the mall by the 60ish rent-a-cop and his radio.

I can only hope that if we do get hit as described in this book that various statelegislatures will realize that an armed, prepared citizenry is our final defense. Unfortunately, our knuckleheaded representatives will probably believe that additional terrorist attacks can only be prevented by further limiting the rights of law-abiding citizens.

Small spoiler coming: I think Utah residents will be heartened by the response the terrorists receive in the Utah mall

 

[papaone]

My worry

My worry also is that the gun liberals may use attacks as an excuse to disarm us. Well, the protection of my family is a #1 priority as is yours. You can be sure the liberals will be protected by somebody's firearms. No doubt they feel their hide is worth more than ours.

 

[Standing Wolf]

It is highly unlikely we will be able to affect terrorism with our concealed handguns

Small odds are still better than none.

 

[dairycreek]

I will always try to take care of me and mine!

That's why I carry. Don't know where terrorists might or might not fit into that mindset. Good shooting

 

[Preacherman]

Watch the Al Qaeda training tapes that have been circulating for a couple of years. The concensus LE opinion on those tapes is that if you're taken hostage by these types, you have little to no chance of surviving, despite anything they may say. That being the case, you have nothing to lose - and are not posing any greater risk to other hostages - by fighting back at the earliest opportunity. If you're armed, you can fight back rather more effectively than with your bare hands...

If I have to cross the river, I'll take an AQ escort with me, thank you very much!

 

[Old Dog]

You just never know ... I live up in the glorious Pacific NorthWest, where once an alert customs agent at a small town ferry terminal noticed a slightly nervous driver getting off a car ferry from Canada ... you know the rest ... lots of explosives in his car trunk ... Yep, he was Al Qaida. Turns out, the Space Needle (Seattle) was in fact a prospective target. It could just be John Q. Citizen who alertly notices something not quite right, and averts the next Oklahoma City-type bombing. It was just an average Joe who noticed the car Malvo and Muhammed (the "D.C. snipers") in a rest stop and got them caught.

 

[Smurfslayer]

I wonder

in the event of an attack - or coordinated attacks - just how out of hand the overreaction by fed, state and local gov't will be...

The harsh reality is that as gun owners, those who carry regularly are but a small minority... As citizens, gun owners are but a small minority...

Unfortunately, some terrorists aren't as stupid as others. They're going to pick a target that will have the most chance of demoralizing us. A target that is weak or perceived that way, and one which is symbolic. Likely, they will aim to kill and injure as many women and children as they can due to the 'higher' value we as a society place there.

I'm sure we'll see new and improved "sterile areas" erected for "safety" and much more... These convenient new restrictions will nullify pretty much all of the area's armed citizens.

 

[jdege]

Armed civilians might be effective against certain types of terrorist attack, and will be ineffective against others.

Consider the Luxor attack in 1997 - armed civilians might have made a difference.

But then think about the attack on the WTC in 1993 - what difference would it have made if you'd been carrying while the terrorists drove a truck bomb into the parking garage?

 

[HankB]

It is highly unlikely we will be able to affect terrorism with our concealed handguns.

When terrorists were hitting schools in Israel, arming teachers reputedly helped quite a bit.

A concealed handgun is not a talisman that confers invincibility on the person who wields it. What it DOES is help to balance the odds - at least partially - against a violent opponent who expects no resistance from a helpless victim. So concealed carry may help. It certainly won't hurt.

I agree that our "leaders" - and I use the term loosely - would probably react in exactly the wrong manner and attempt to render Americans even more helpless and disarmed in the face of armed terror threats - I mean, just look at the opposition the airline pilots are getting in their quest to be armed from a supposedly pro-gun Bush administration. Imagine what a Kerry administration would do.

 

[Ala Dan]

Homeland Security

The director of the State Of Alabama'a homeland security has
identified at least five targets within the state, that possibly
are terroists targets. In this day and age one never knows
what (or where) the perpetrator might strike? Some targets
within this state, lie in rural type areas; not in the big cities
like Birmingham, Huntsville, Montgomery, or Mobile. I think
its the responsibility of us as citizens to be prepared to
defend our homeland.

I too pay particular attention to detail, enlight of the 911
attacks on U.S. soil. When out and about, I'm always ready
to Rock N' Roll.

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member

 

[El Tejon]

During WWII the Gov. of California urged its citizens to carry firearms in case of Japanese raids. Why should this war be different?

That said, the Base's hit list with the exception of Miami is full of unarmed sheople. It's not like they will be attacking some mall in Indiana or Utah.

Be ready, but understand that terrorist targets are controlled by Leftists who want to maintain their power over their citizens more than they wish to defeat our enemies.

 

[Damon]

In general, people carry concealed for "just in case" scenarios. Whether it is a criminal or terrorist act, it does not matter. The only thing important is that you are prepared.

 

[Top_Notch]

Well, if the terrorists were smart, they'd start right here in Hellinois where average Joe is a criminal if he equips himself for self preservation in any public place, let alone Chicago where average Joe can't even own a handgun.

A CCW public may not stop a terrorist, but I'd like to at least have the chance. In my mind, the biggest terrorists we have here are the politicians leading us to slaughter.

 

[Dave R]

I think there is a very slim chance that an armed citizen could catch a terrorist group in the midst of preparing or transporting or setting a bomb, or getiing set up for an attack.

Very slim chance.

But what a story to tell the grandkids, eh?

 

[papaone]

Being ready

About all we can do is to be ready ourselves. I not only have a concealed carry permit but have an SKS in the trunck of my car. Hopefully it will never be used but I have to live with myself to feel I have done what I know how to do. May have a rear end collision but that is just part of it.

Best
Dennis

 

[xdoctor]

In general, people carry concealed for "just in case" scenarios. Whether it is a criminal or terrorist act, it does not matter. The only thing important is that you are prepared.

Okay, I'm curious now. Out of all the regular carrying people reading this, how many of us were Boy Scouts?

 

[hso]

Unrealistic to consider that CCW will have a positive impact on terrorists.

Please remember that a single individual using hazardous materials, explosives, mass transit as force multipliers will create much more damage and fear than 3 individuals armed with AKs in a shoping mall.

Thoughts of citizens with firearms stopping terrorists are Matt Helm fantasies.

 

[Double Maduro]

All of you who think that armed citizens would be useless against terrorists should study the Israeli's.

The LA riots were an example of this country's armed citizens helping to control terrorists.

The armed citizens of this country defeated terrorist attacks by the most powerful nation on earth in 1775.

The armed citizens of this country helped defend it against terrorists from Mexico led by Pancho Villa.

The armed citizens of this country will probably be in a position, more readily at hand, than the police, National Guard or army.

Not saying that it will make a difference in every case but in enough to give them pause.

The UN_armed citizens of this country kept the last airliner from hitting the White House. If they had been armed they may still be alive.

Sorry, I'm a little grumpy today.

DM

 

[rde]

How many people will call someone in as a potential terrorist because they were somehow identified as legally carrying (CCW). Possibly printed or flashed somehow by accident...or for whatever reason...someone somehow noticed that they had a firearm. Given the terrorist around the corner on every block mentality of today I suspect that some of us that CCW are invariably going to get "the business." Which of course futher's the liberals cause. (In some people's eyes this will be an opportunity to go beyond stating we are evil gun owners...but terrorists as well)

But, in regards to the original question I agree that a CCW is not going to stop a lot of determined terrorist attacks..no different then stopping any type of crime...but as noted above in Israel..it has and will stop some.

 

[Akusp]

I might not be able to stop an attack...but I might be able to end one or at least make the MF's pay.

 

[grimlock]

xdoctor said:
Okay, I'm curious now. Out of all the regular carrying people reading this, how many of us were Boy Scouts?

*raises hand*

Eagle Scout and Order of the Arrow.