Firearms Lawyer
A discussion about the law and deadly force
Imminent Al Qaeda Attacks
February 3rd, 2010 at Wed, 3rd, 2010 at 8:58 pm by markknapp| WASHINGTON — Al Qaeda can be expected to attempt an attack on the United States in the next three to six months, senior U.S. intelligence officials told Congress Tuesday.
“The biggest threat is not so much that we face an attack like 9/11. It is that Al Qaeda is adapting its methods in ways that oftentimes make it difficult to detect,” Panetta told the Senate Intelligence Committee. Panetta also warned of the danger of extremists acting alone: “It’s the lone-wolf strategy that I think we have to pay attention to as the main threat to this country,” he said. |
What role will armed citizens play?
What will you do if you hear someone yelling “Allahu Akbar“ or just acting suspiciously. Are you aware of your surroundings as you go about your daily activities . Have you checked your First Aid supplies and stored some extra ammunition- just in case?
Many sources have been telling us that our schools will be attacked as happened in Russia. The parents heard their sons and daughters screaming…these guys have no interest in getting away or getting out alive. They are more interested in causing so much anguish that some Americans will retaliate by attacking innocent Islamic people, thus radicalizing American Muslims. There is a great deal of evidence from terrorist chat rooms and interrogations that the goal will be to commit atrocities on young children at school.
You might consider carrying an unloaded shotgun and extra ammunition in the trunk of your vehicle. But make sure that you only defend yourself and others. Anyone that retaliates by attacking innocent people is part of the problem and should be treated as a criminal by the courts. Vigilantes are not really different from terrorists.
A terrorist attack may include guys armed with AKs and the police are going to be busy protecting communication centers, power grids, city hall. For the first few hours, the people that are prepared mentally may be all the public has to protect neighborhoods, schools, churches, etc. Expect snipers or additional explosions immediately following an initial terrorist event. This means that parents and media gathered around a school where children are being held may be in at just as much risk as the children being held hostage.
There won’t be enough LEOs to protect homes and businesses. And some of your neighbors who won’t work and have not prepared might loot if they see the opportunity. Trouble never makes an appointment… be prepared.
We need men and women, armed with hand guns and proper training, including First Aid, that know how to work with professional First Responders in our communities. CERT classes are a good way to work on this. Civilian Police Academy programs are also a good choice. We now hear that some Washington cities include firearms training in their civilian training programs. The government will rarely take the initiative to train you because “thinking outside the box” is the province of a few individuals- individuals that may lack the patience to wade through the bureaucratic gauntlets. And even the best military officers and LEOs normally listen to other credible leaders, usually only from within their own command.
markknapp I was on law review at Gonzaga University School of Law and love to write. Having held the position of Associate Editor on Gonzaga Law Review is good training for writing appellate briefs (I have written a few) and is a good qualification. When I am not writing about military history, my favorite activity is educating folks as to why personal self-defense may be just as critical to our safety as national security at the federal level. Like most political and philosophical issues, security starts at home. There is something about stripping issues down to the bare essentials that makes for clear thinking on almost any subject. Studying history, religion and law will convince any fair-minded observer of the human predicament that how we regulate the use of force is nearly the most basic and indispensable element that underlies legal systems and government. Every time an errant driver is stopped by a law enforcement officer there is a potential for presentation and/or abuse of deadly force. Many defendants would not appear in court but for the fact that failure to appear may result in being forcefully detained behind bars. The manner in which we constrain our government officials, protect ourselves from reckless drivers, discourage dishonest business dealings and stop predatory criminals- all involve force that is brought to bear by government and sometimes other parties. The most indispensable element, however, is reason- often harder to define but we know it when we see it. The ability to reason clearly is the indispensable quality for a lawyer, judge or any human being. Reasoning ability underlies the manners, courtroom procedures, writing style and even the flow of paperwork with which a lawyer must deal.
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