Did 9-11 change the way you approach personal security?

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40ozflatfoot

New member
If you changed your attitude towards personal security because of the terror attacks, what did you do to accomodate the demands of terror at home from forign terrorists?

What are you alert for now, that you weren't before 9-11?

What would you tell your neighbors and friends if/when they asked you about the changes they have seen in your daily behavior?

What would you ask your neighbors and friends to do to help?

Anybody here in a Neighborhood Watch program, and, if so, do you carry when you are on duty?
 
T

Tamara

Moderator Emeritus
No.

Always carried, and (more importantly) stay in Condition Yellow.

Personal safety is personal safety, whether the person trying to inflict you harm is a rapist or a fatwah-besotted wannabe martyr.
 
D

Dennis

Staff Emeritus
We (family) stockpiled a bit more supplies in case of government over-reaction. I "profile" a bit more than earlier. No big deal.
 
M

Malpaso

New member
Now instead of asking myself every morning why I always carry, I realize right away why I do.

I tend to be more forthcoming in discussions about firearms ownership, personal protection and home safety instead of waiting to be asked.

If anything, more people are coming to me, asking questions. Funny, they used to think I was a little too excessive in my behavior.
 
C

C.R.Sam

New member
Me change ?.....No.
Places where I can't go.......some changes there.

Homeland Security; The second amendment.

9-11........not unique, just bigger than it's predecessors.

Sam
 
D

Double Naught Spy

New member
No, flat outright NO. There was nothing about 9/11 that threatened my personal security on a scale with which I, as an individual, could really handle. I had to laugh when I was at the local Academy sporting goods store when I heard the guy behind the counter talking about a run on .380 they had that day and for a few days later. As he noted, "As if these folks think they can stop a plane with a .380 from the ground."

From before and after 9/11, the same major threats to me and my family exist. These are the people who might mug me on the street, break into my home, try to carjack me, try to rape my wife, or kidnap my children. The people who are most likely a threat to me have no real political agenda for their acts, are mentally deranged or addicted to drugs, and proabably have not traveled more than 20 miles to get to me and my family. They are not being funded by a foreign government or zealot.

I find it amusing many of the precautions people have taken after 9/11 as if the precautions would have made a hill of beans difference for the 9/11 attacks. The same holds true with some of the new airport rules. Many of the security changes would have had no bearing on the 9/11 attacks, except maybe for the rule about not having knives on planes. Now there was a no brainer.

As much as I hate to admit it, even after 9/11, I have no contingency plans should a jumbo jet to fall out of the sky toward me and my family. We do have a couple of fire extinguishers, but they are going to be about as much help as the .380 my neighbors will be using to stop the plane before it crashes on us.

Also, I don't have a good plan for if an asteroid should hit our planet. All that being said, we still have the same plans for fire, home invasion, and potential carjacking that we had before 9/11 and we each know our jobs.
 
M

Mikul

New member
You can prepare to defend yourself against airliners, but you can prepare for the post-crash effects. You can also keep away from potential targets. Any place where a large number of people come together at a specified time is a target: sporting events, concerts, major transportation centers (especially at rush hour), commuter trains, etc.

In the NYC attack, phone lines were out in a big piece of the city and where the lines weren't out, they were clogged. Cells phones were no better. If something like this happens you cannot rely on emergency services (especially if 2/3 of them are killed in the initial attack). So a good first aid kit is mandatory and some way to protect you and yours because you won't be able to contact the police.

Can you imagine if NYC is hit again. People will be flying out of the city. This may mean that your grocery story isn't open, so have food on hand. People who run water treatment facilities would leave too, so have water on hand.

Electricity is likely to go out so have a way to cook and heat your home. Oooh, that's poor sentence structure. PLEASE do NOT cook your home.

Don't forget suspiscious mail that may contain chemical or biological material.
 
B

Bogie

New member
I think that we have VERY little to fear from airborne assaults - Face it - we don't NEED air marshals. The next time someone looks like they're going to SERIOUSLY hijack an airplane, they're gonna come out of that plane in pieces.

I'm more worried about the typical jihad M.O. - planted bombs, suicide bombs, spray & pray in crowded locations, etc...

I probably keep a bit more of an eye out now - I have noticed that I see VERY FEW arabic men, where before they were fairly common in my area.
 
P

pdmoderator

New member
Yes.

Planned, read up, changed lifestyle a bit. Got my wife interested. Got our defensive tools in shape and learned/are learning how to use them. When the terrorism threat had waned, I looked into our situation vis-a-vis violent crime and made some changes there too.

The best thing that came out of the whole mess for my wife and I is that we have both had a healthy change of attitude. Before 9/11 I was kind of dismissive of ever being attacked, and my wife was just afraid of violence without trying to take any action to deal with her fear. I think we're both making progress.

- pdmoderator
 
4

4V50 Gary

Staff
Public Service Announcement

Preparing yourself means more than practicing with your firearm and storing up thousands upon thousands of rounds of ammo.

Xerox all your important documents and stash them in your safety deposit box. If you're home is destroyed, you'll still know who you are (ahem, prove who you are and what you own). This includes driver's license, passport, SS card, stocks, deed, vehicle registration, any other important licenses, bank accounts, etc. Not only store in a safety deposit box, stash addtional copies OUT OF STATE with a trusted friend or relative.

Keep an old pair of shoes at work. Don't toss out old tennis shoes and you want comfortable shoes in case you have to skedaddle from your place of employment. Do you believe they found high heel shoes in what was left of the staircase in one of the Twin Towers? Also keep a supply of food, water, medicine (rotate all of these frequently), contact lens stuff or spare glasses and toilet kit at work. Have a flashlight at hand as well as a battery powered or hand crank radio.

Make sure your family is trained and know where your household emergency supplies are (water, flashlight, batteries, food, guns, blankets, etc.). Make sure they have two assembly points in case you can't get home (local and regional) and along with that, message centers. If you can't get home and have pets, have arrangements made with neighbors to care for the critters. Same applies to child care if you commute away from your home. If you have kids, find out what the school's emergency plans (including evacuation are).

Get a ham radio license and a shortwave radio. In a real emergency, the phones (both land line and cellular) won't work and w/a ham, you can at least communicate with others.

The more prepared you are, the less of a burden you will be to the limited emergency services resources.

This has been a public service annoucement by TFL.
 
A

ACP230

New member
I paid a bit more attention to my surroundings, but not that much. I didn't buy a gun since I had some and was carrying one already. I thought about buying more ammo but didn't since cash was tight. I decided not to fly anywhere however, not because I was that afraid of a new hijack attack, but because I didn't want to hassled at the airport.
Someone posted about being more concerened about the type of attacks that have been happening in Israel. I heard one pundit suggest that those kind of attacks might be used here. No one else seems to want to discuss it, probably because concealed carry by individuals is one of the only effective responses to that kind of attack. It wouldn't do for the media dips to suggest that us peasants could actually defend ourselves, eh?
 
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foghornl

New member
Increased supply of water and food staples, extra LP tanks for grills, spare flashlights/batteries.
And more ammo in all calibres/guages.
 
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Texas Tornado

New member
I live in a fairly rural area, and would be very suprised by any type of attack here. But we have prepaired for attacks in other areas that might affect transportation, ie: bottled water, food, ect.

I think the main thing the attacks have done for me is this: I have always had a very strong feeling about the second amendment and our right to keep and bear arms, but the attacks have solidified this feeling in me even more so..... I have a God-given right to protect myself and my family, and God forbid someone try to take away my means of doing so!!
 
J

JCOJR

New member
It changed a few things for me:

1) I do not fly now; not because I am afraid, but because I will not subject myself, and especially my wife, to the rediculous searches imposed on us all.

2) I am in the process of buying a rifle. Again, not for terrorists, but for those who would take our weapons from us.

These have been discussed here at length by all of us.

JCO
 
4

40ozflatfoot

New member
Interesting. Mr. Spock might even say, "Fascinating."

4V50Gary, your post looks a lot like posts I read two years ago, during the Y2K scare. I'll admit, I was drawn into it, too. Ammo, bugout bag, boots and sox already packed, backpack ready to go...I even bought a dehydrator to make my own dehydrated food supplies.

This is a bit diferent, but, in a practical sense, and on a personal level for me, not much. I'm not comfortable saying it, but I profile now, focusing on middle eastern people, but not ruling out anyone. I watch people more closely now, and I'm more alert than I was. I'm more inclined to follow up on anything that seems unusual, and I've widened my definintion of "unusual."

The tactics used in the middle east can come here at any time without warning, and a belt bomber doesn't have to pick a big, famous target to hit, either. One school would be enough.

The FBI has already issued warnings that the next hit could come from a truck, loaded with who knows what. Can you imagine what a coordinated attack on the main arteries that join the western states with the eastern ones would do? Remember, most of your purchases, including guns and ammo, and reloading supplies, are shipped by truck over those arteries...the interstate freeways. It wouldn't take much to close those freeways long enough to make life very uncomfortable. One 53 foot van loaded with a ground version of a fuel-air bomb would send a lot of people scurrying like ants from a kicked-over anthill.

For those that don't know, a 53 foot van (box trailer) can hold 40 tons of cargo.

Food for thought.

Thanks, everyone for your input. If you want to keep going, don't let me stop you.
 
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