Category: Emerging Threats

Letter Re: Connecticut Corralled: The Slippery Slope of Gun Registration

Jim,   The article forwarded by J.B.G. re: the Connecticut gun registration photo/article for ARs and high capacity magazines (‘Looks Like Weimar Germany’: The Viral Photo Out of Connecticut That’s Giving Some Gun Owners Chills) is really just the tip of the iceberg. This legislation was really designed to ultimately refine and maintain the firearm registry in the state that is already in existence for all firearms. The State police have been collecting and storing all firearms transactions for many years here. The Federal Government by law must destroy all the data gained from background checks for firearm  purchasing. The Connecticut state police have no …


Two Letters Re: Bakken Oil Development has Ended the Peak Oil Debate

Dear Mr. Rawles: Like the author of the letter concerning peak oil and domestic fracking, I too regularly follow your blog but have not felt the need to add comment. However, the author makes several assertions about both the theory of peak oil and the state of oil production that require clarification. The primary hypothesis behind peak oil, the Hubbert peak theory, does not state that after a certain point a nation, or mankind in general, will “never discover any more oil”. Rather, it simply says that oil production at some point reaches a maximum rate, after which it enters …


Letter Re: The Bakken Oil Development has Ended the Peak Oil Debate

Dear JWR: I’m sitting in Western North Dakota atop a sea of oil.  We are producing barrels of oil in numbers that could not be imagined less than six years ago.  Natural gas production is soaring.  Why?  Fracking.  Geologists have determined that world-wide natural gas production, with fracking could produce enough for hundreds of years usage. When I was growing up here in the 1960s, after the boom of the 1950s, experts said we were never going to discover any more oil.  The boom of the 1970s proved that wrong.  Then in the 1980s, it was all over but the …


Letter Re: Open Carry, Concealed Carry and Gun Free School Zones

Dear Jim, There’s another tricky loophole regarding permitted concealed carrying in or near schools. Many states have reciprocity with other states, but best I recall, the Federal statute requires valid licensure issued by that same State to carry in these areas.  So even if your license is valid throughout the state [via a reciprocity provision], it could conceivably still violate Federal law to be armed on or near school grounds. Thanks, – Michael Z. Williamson (SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large)


Letter Re: Open Carry, Concealed Carry and Gun Free School Zones

James, I’m writing to warn fellow SurvivalBlog readers that there is a huge proviso for those wishing to open carry firearms in states where it is lawful to do so. I recommend reading the Wikipedia page on Gun-Free School Zones Act (GFSZA) of 1990. Some key excerpts form that web page follow: Definitions Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(25) the term “school zone” means— (A) in, or on the grounds of, a public, parochial or private school; or (B) within a distance of 1,000 feet from the grounds of a public, parochial or private school. Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(26) the term “school” …


Letter Re: Could America’s Pot Growers Start Growing Opium Poppies?

Dear Jim, I thought I would let you know about something interesting going on in the Gold Country of California. Some SurvivalBlog readers may be aware that the North San Juan Ridge, aka “The Ridge” is highly populated with homesteaders, [near Grass Valley, California,, in Nevada County.] Since the soil is poor, and there are many squatters or people on largely undeveloped land, few make sufficient money from growing food for themselves, so turned to growing [marijuana, commonly called] pot.   In the old days, pot was illegal and the Fed and State CAMP task force would survey and raid …


Letter Re: Any Escape from Obamacare?

Mr. Rawles, Is there any way that I can avoid enrolling in Obamacare? (I believe that abortion is sinful and there’s no way I want to support it.) Thanks, – Debra L. JWR Replies: As currently enacted, the Affordable Care Act (commonly called “Obamacare)” contains a special exemption provision for members of healthcare sharing ministries. One of the best of these is called Medi-share. A similar plan–and even less expensive per month–is available from Samaritan Ministries.


Letter Re: Taking My Taxes Personally

James Wesley, My wife needed a new car (SUV to be exact), and that got me looking into the fiscal situation in detail to come up with a price range. I first detailed the expense side of the balance sheet down to monthly average activities and dining out costs, but my world was shaken when I looked at the income totals. Like a growing number of men, my wife makes more than me, her career being much more in demand these days. This I knew from the start; we’re not that far off but there is, as the left would …


Letter Re: More Bureaucratic Over-Reach

Sir, The faceless “bureaucratocracy” strikes yet again, threatening to condemn an off-grid homeowner for allegedly violating an “international property maintenance code” due to lack of running water and electricity – even though neither utility is specified in said international property maintenance code.  How does an international code apply within the confines of an incorporated entity like the City of Cape Coral (which has its own building codes adopted pursuant to its own ordinance procedures)?  And now the city has graciously indicated that, if the homeowner can prove she can “sustain herself” without these utilities, they “might be able to reach …


Bug Out: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly–You Can Arrive Alive, by Semper Paro

I.  Introduction – Possible Scenarios.   Your automobile becomes inoperable for a period of time while traveling – it is extremely hot or extremely cold and hours to wait. A natural disaster occurs and you have to evacuate. Chaos occurs due to financial collapse or other major event causing civil unrest. An Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP) or Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) caused by solar flare(s) renders your vehicle dead miles from home. Or, an EMP occurs as a result of a nuclear strike (with collateral fall-out to follow). Use your imagination…in reality, nothing is too far fetched. While these are listed in …


Letter Re: A Conversation with a TEOTWAWKI Survivor

Jim, I’d like to add a couple of thoughts to the recent Appleseed/Libertyseed post.  While I have been involved with Appleseed and really appreciate the history and message that is presented, we need to correct the misconception that: “The spirit of liberty was alive and well in the hearts and minds of Paul Revere and his fellow American colonists in the 1770s…”  The notion of “3 Percenters” lives today based on the rough statistics that only 3% of the colonists actually fought the Revolutionary War, another 10% actively supported the war effort, and another 20% supported the war in spirit …


Letter Re: The Clueless Hordes

The first snow of the season fell a few weeks ago at my location. It wasn’t much, about 2 inches of heavy wet snow in the course of half a day and another inch expected to fall in the evening. Toward the end of the afternoon my sister dropped by for a visit and shortly before she arrived she noticed a couple of kids leaning on their bicycles at the side of the road. She stopped to see if everything was okay and mentioned to them they could stop by at our place it they needed help. A little later …


A Conversation with a TEOTWAWKI Survivor, by Rachel M.

It’s not every day I get the chance to visit with a TEOTWAWKI survivor – but when I do, I listen up. That opportunity presented itself yesterday, when I was privileged to interview Paul. An individual of small frame yet sizeable strength of mind and determination, Paul experienced the end of the world he knew and lived to help create a new one. Not only did he survive the collapse, but he proved to be a key leader and connector in his community as it struggled through the extended period of political upheaval, economic failure, widespread violence, and nefarious pillaging. …


An Objective Critique of “American Blackout” by J.A. in New Jersey

Last night I was able to sit down and watch the National Geographic channel’s “American Blackout” show on YouTube.com (without family interruption!)   I would like to offer an unbiased critique of the show. The message of the show was very simple – to reach out to the average non-prepping American and illustrate how unprepared the general population is.  The producers of the show used very generic stereotypical characters in order to relate to the widest possible audience.  Every “type” of victim portrayed made simple but life threatening mistakes that were clearly illustrated to make a point about the importance of …


Letter Re: In Extremis, Compunctions Dwindle

Sir, I know that seeing this attitude is not news to you, but I read this article and thought it may be helpful for the SurvivalBlog readers as reinforces what you and others have long said: that all bets are off in regards to morality and standards by the average Joe who has gone without food for a few days. This tale of post-Typhoon Yolanda includes the gripping quote: “I am a decent person. But if you have not eaten in three days, you do shameful things to survive.”  In any event, I thought you might find the link useful. Thank …