TV terrorist attack
 

At the Mulberry Grove Recreation Center Marion County Sheriff Chris Blair said he was concern that a movie theater or McDonalds in Marion County could be the scene of the next shooter, terrorist attack.

Read the story in the on line news “Sheriff Blair warns residents to be prepared for active shooter, terrorist attack”.

I feel very safe here in the Villages but expect stories like this will make us even more safe with more people getting training for concealed gun permits.

Not me though as I am no good with small weapons. I doubt if I could hit a Cadillac with a Glock unless I threw it at it.

I do think we should be a lot more aware of people acting out-of-context and the like. If You See Something, Say Something Be a little paranoid, but just a little.

I believe the sherrif is encouraging an education of awareness in differing surroundings and situations.

He is advisng residents of TV as a part of a general, broader need in the current climate of public violence.

I do not think his commentary has anything to do with the potential of whether it could happen here in TV. More like the boy scout motto of being prepared. Or like accumulating hurricane supplies.

I agree, awareness.
Let's not start pushing the "fear" button.

Crisis Intervention Specialists | Marion County Sheriff

On a side note, I like what they have done with the Victim Services part of their web-site.

I worry more about loved ones in areas that would be much more appealing to terrorists like DC, Las Vegas, Boston, Chicago, Reno, San Francisco, etc.

Idiots in golf carts worries me a lot more than terrorists here in the Villages.

That's a good link to follow. I watched all the videos and take the advice.
thank-you

Common sense told me the logical target was DC but the hit came in San Bernardino Calafornia.

Common sense told me the people at the San Bernardino Christmas party had nothing to fear.

Common sense tells me that all the cops carrying all the AK47 they can carry is no defense against against a hidden bomb.

One out of three, not good, making me think common sense is no defense against the jihadist.

Get a concealed carry permit & carry all the time. We are the softest target out there; especially Brownwood Town square, with its elevated bleachers-it makes the area below a shooting gallery.

They carry Assault weapons
 

My little "38 hand gun" is good to keep the burglar from breaking into our house but against the semi-automatic Assault Weapons these Terrorist are carrying you might as well have a sling shot.

Not to alarm anybody----but don't you think that a terrorist in The Villages would get a big media play and a lot easier to carry out than in DC, LA, NY or Chicago.
Yeah, I like that----"be a little paranoid, but just a little". :boxing2:

Not easier considering how many Villagers are carrying concealed weapons and are well trained to use them.

Actually, the Los Angeles area would have a lot more targets because many associate that with Hollywood which is not very well liked by Muslims. My friend at the University of Denver Graduate School of Librarianship and Information Management who was from the University of Mosul Library (this is when Iraq was a US ally) really detested US movies and TV shows. This was in 1984 but I will bet that the animosity towards the US entertainment industry is even stronger among some radicalized Muslims especially given movies like American Sniper. That San Bernardino X-Mas party would be something they would target.

I took my family on a vacation that was in the Beltway when the Beltway Sniper was still at large in 2002. The president said not to change your life because of terrorism. Doing so means the terrorists wins. I agreed with his advice.

But I have a big imagination especially when I had to get gas. I imagined my car backfiring and me dropping to the ground, thinking I was being shot at. But also imagined some vigilante thinking I was the culprit not the victim.

I also remember while pumping the gas looking for a white van and looking all over the place like a Clint Eastwood spaghetti bender movie when the good guys see the bad guys hiding behind a curtain.

If you have an interest in our history of terrorism this is good reading.

FORGOTTEN LESSONS FROM THE D.C. SNIPER RAMPAGE
by James Bovard
April 26, 2012
Forgotten Lessons from the D.C. Sniper Rampage - The Future of Freedom Foundation

The sad fact is a terrorist attack can occur any where and at any time. That is thing that creates the terror. You can never predict where it will come from. Be prepared a snub nose beats doing nothing by a long shot.

All guns are different. If you can comfortably carry a bigger handgun than a compact revolver, do so-also get a pistol so you can rapidly reload. The debate is not IF but When & Where.

Also, a police officer in Garland Texas who was carrying a Glock 40 caliber, stopped two terrorists armed with AK-47 style assault rifles.

Not sure what you mean by this GC? I would consider San Bernardino in the Los Angeles area. Distance between Los Angeles, CA and San Bernardino, CA

Radicalized Muslims do rant against Western values and one of the biggest marketers of these is our movies and books. They like to target symbols of our culture/society like the Twin Towers, Pentagon, White House, Liberty Bell, etc.

I am far less fearful in the Villages than in Orlando, Tampa Bay, etc. I also believe that the terrorists go against targets which make them look good to the people in ISIS and Al Qaeda. A bunch of seniors in a retirement community would not seem to be a high priority to ISIS leaders.

Some mentally deranged person might be more of a threat but these kind of attacks are very hard to predict as there is often little logic to them.

What are the odds of actually being attacked and killed by a terrorist?

Probably far less than being hit and killed by a wayward golf ball here on one of the many Villagers' golf courses . The Terrorism Statistics Every American Needs to Hear | Global Research - Centre for Research on Globalization

Death by golf ball not all that uncommon | November 29, 2010 | Bart Pfankuch | HT Golf

Perhaps you are giving terrorists too much credit. They don't need a reason to justify anything. Evil is evil.

great links, thanks again

Better odds now, and getting better, than in the past.

The guy who killed at Planned Parenthood, or Aurora Movie Theater Shooting or Columbine or any other number of mass shootings were not terrorist related. There are sick people, copycats, angry people out there. There was even a guy that shot a theater goer because they wouldn't turn off their cell phone. And, as I recall, none of those shootings were carried out by Muslims. For those that can carry I suggest that you do when you are going to be in large groups if you have that fear. If you don't carry you can always hope that those around you do.

What happened to the Coyote threads??? That was last weeks fear.... hmmmm Who wants to make bets on next weeks fear?

The Sheriff got his name in the paper again... He ignited fear... and now every nearsighted old person with a tremor will be carrying a gun.

I'll just leave that here for you to think about.

I hope there are some limitations on who can get a concealed gun permit in Florida? Florida Concealed Weapon License Application Information - Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

I agree with you billethkid! It doesn't do any good to worry but it is a good thing to be aware. Consider this...the news today is far different than a year, 5 yrs, 10 yrs and 30 yrs ago because mostly the bad stuff was happening..."over there or somewhere else!" We've gotten so used to our vaster Bubble here in the U.S., which has made many complacent. I just read that Iran fired off a mid-range missile that could be the beginnings sometime soon of something HUGE that will affect the whole world.

LOL. I am qualified without a class as I am retired military. I learned more about guns and how to handle them safely as a farm boy than I did with 20 years military, but that is another topic. I truly believe it is time to get rid of the concealed carry and authorize open carry for all of us.

How about this for open carry?

Attachment 56670

I'm from north jersey but I taught in south jersey closer to philly. A fellow teacher Lou grew up in that area where we taught. Riverside had buses and a lot of families were recreational hunters. They had school off on the first day of hunting. Lou was born in 1946 and hunts. He said it was not unusual for 3 boys, 15 years old get on a bus with shotguns or rifles and get dropped off and walk to where you could hunt.

Isn't that hard to imagine? That's the 60's, in New Jersey.

We agreed that if we saw 3 kids get on a bus with shotguns our first thoughts wouldn't be I wonder where they're going hunting.

Agree with Bogie and billethkid....I am glad I read back a few posts..

Open carry is fine with me, but I would still carry concealed for the tactical
advantage.

Little 38 Hand Gun
 

[QUOTE=justjim;1157267]My little "38 hand gun" is good to keep the burglar from breaking into our house but against the semi-automatic Assault Weapons these Terrorist are carrying you might as well have a sling shot.

A little 38 hand gun just might come in handy if the terrorist stops to reload or has a weapon jam (mal function).]

I agree, but I'm not paranoid, I'm just a little more aware than what I used to be. I always watch people when we're out; I never sit with my back to a door in a public place, but, these are things I've always done that since I began my career in Law Enforcement back in the '70's. Old habits are hard to break, more so now with what's going on. My S&W .380 Bodyguard is always with me.

We should be a lot more aware than usual. I do tend to be extremely aware in new environments but old haunts, not so much.

And the same thread.

The Odds
 

I read somewhere that you were more likely to be struck by lightning or bitten by a shark than to be attacked by a terrorist.

But, in view of the fact that I live in the lightning capitol of the U.S., and having been chased out of the Atlantic Ocean by a shark, I may be excused for being more concerned than most.

We have among our active contributors on TOTV several former law enforcement officers. There is a convention within the law enforcement fraternity that divides our population up into Sheep, Wolves and Sheepdogs. The Sheep are the general, unarmed population; the Wolves are the criminals (and now the terrorists) who prey upon the Sheep; the Sheepdogs are the law enforcement officers whose natural instincts are to protect the Sheep, and because of being armed are prepared to do it. (A Sheepdog who goes out into the public unarmed is transformed into a Sheep.)

The full text is at On Sheep, Wolves and Sheepdogs

Like kcrazorbackfan I have been content in retirement to carry a small .380 caliber pistol for personal protection. With what I regard as a heightened likelihood of an incident I have moved back to one of my .357 magnum service pistols.

In answer to the occasional question about being armed: "I don't always carry a Glock. Oh, wait.......yes I do."

That hit close to home. I was teaching in rural Wisconsin in 1997 when about 10 boys were walking through the cafeteria with guns on their backs. Having just moved from the Washington DC area, I was like WHAT? Imagine my surprise when I learned they were attending school early mornings for a gun safety course, offered from 7am until 8am! By the year 2000 they stopped offering the course due to community concerns for the safety of all students..

Judging by this thread, I think the sheriff stirred the pot a little too vigorously. Vigilance is one thing, 115 thousand 55+ Villagers with CCPs is another. Is TV a soft target--sure, but there are millions of soft targets, most of them softer than TV. I believe every mass shooting since 2007 was purposely carried out in a gun free zone with little to no security. The perpetrators specifically passed on other targets in many cases. I think (the appearance of) a gated community with community watch patrols and a percentage of residents with CCPs is a significant deterrent. I'm much more fearful of the driving ability demonstrated on our roads than a terrorist attack. Like another poster pointed out, I would also be more fearful of a tremulous super senior with cataracts drawing a weapon, especially since fear tends to cloud judgment.
Some people fear air travel, even though it is 100+ times safer than highways. Perhaps it is the "all or none" phenomena---people feel they can survive an auto crash, but air disasters tend to have 100% mortality. A terrorist attack may be viewed similarly.
I am certainly not anti 2nd amendment. If there was an attack, I'd like to be hiding behind the well trained guy with the Glock. But these terrorists seem to want to inflict maximum casualties, even if they aren't afraid of dying themselves. But they do not want to take the first bullet, it defeats their mission. I'm not sure if it even counts towards their 72 virgins if they are the only one who ends up dead. Besides which, like Dennis Miller said in a stand up routine, "One virgin, two, maybe even three, OK---but sooner or later you're going to want a pro"
As far as your personal survival goes, better to wear your seat belt and get your flu shot, it would be far more effective than fighting an AK47 and a suicide vest with a handgun.

Didn't we all play a game at sometime where a few sentences were whispered to the first in a line of 10 people then they had to write it down and then whisper, not read what they heard to the next person and so on?

We always wondered how the same story could have possibly been repeated as some were so not even close.

Now try it in TV and guess what?

He ignited reality. Some may become fearful. Others will become more aware. I would much rather the local law enforcement talk straight than sugar coat the situation.

But don't forget---some people can't handle the truth, especially if they feel that they've been living in a bubble

Well said. "Well trained" is what stood out to me.............this is sadly missing in many who tote a weapon.
http://alerrt.org/files/research/Act...oterEvents.pdf