Category: Emerging Threats

Americans are Voting with Their Feet

It should come as no surprise that at the same time that Statists agitators are vociferously calling for more People Control that freedom lovers are heading for the exit doors in greater numbers, to wit: The American Redoubt movement, Glenn Beck’s announced Independence Park community (in Texas), calls for state secession (which has been going on longer than most people realize), the ongoing but sadly polarized Free State Movement (in which Free State Wyoming has the best chance of success, demographically), the quiet expatriation of thousands, primarily to various Central and South American countries, and the more splashy celebrity exits. …


The III Citadel Controversy

The name “III Citadel” came into the limelight last weekend, when The Drudge Report posted a prominent link to a CNS article by Gregory Gwyn-Williams, Jr.. In a nutshell, a man identifying himself as “Sam III” who is somehow loosely associated with III Arms (a legitimate company, in West Virginia) started a patriot community building project, somewhere east of St. Maries, Idaho. When I first heard about it in November, I made just one short and noncommittal “this sounds interesting” mention in my blog. (A post which I just removed.) Two days ago I was quite troubled to learn that …


Three Letters Re: Why Civilian Disarmament in the U.S. is Just a Statist Fantasy

Mr. Rawles,  I love the SurvivalBlog site and what you do. Many thanks to you and all contributors! I have some remarks on the letter: A Call to Action: The Impending Weapons Ban, by James M. I agree on the fundamental points made regarding firearms, but it does sound like a re-hash of the red-herring debate from ’91 with the only “Call to Action” being that Congress should ban something else.  Maybe they should ban Murder. Oh, wait that’s been done…   I personally don’t think our Congressional leaders should really be banning anything at all, and when the subject …


A Call to Action: The Impending Weapons Ban, by James M.

The massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary was as profound a tragedy as one can imagine; period. In light of this and similar events we need to have a national discussion about the real causes of mass murder. Contrary to what we will hear in the coming days and weeks, guns were not the cause of the Sandy Hook murders. Nevertheless, local, state, and national leaders, lead by California’s Senator Dianne Feinstein, will use this awful event as a rallying call to push for the most serious infringement of our Second Amendment rights ever proposed in this country’s history. They will …


Letter Re: Why Civilian Disarmament in the U.S. is Just a Statist Fantasy

James, The Internet is replete with potential gun confiscation scenarios. Many people voice the opinion that this confiscation will take the form of armed troops going house to house searching for guns. This would be a potential source of revolution, would demonstrate the true nature of government and would result in the deaths of many of the regimes ostensible supporters. I’ll make the assumption that The Powers That Be are not stupid (evil, probably, but stupid, no). Since they are not stupid, and can foresee the difficulties with house-to-house searches, they will use other methods. Let’s explore some of these …


Why Civilian Disarmament in the U.S. is Just a Statist Fantasy

I often have SurvivalBlog readers forward me alarmist e-mails, warning of “total disarmament” of the civilian populace. While there indeed may be plans or schemes to disarm Americans, I don’t consider these threats credible. Let me explain why: I would conservatively estimate that there are about 316 million firearms in private hands in the United States. Of these, less than 10% are logged in any formal registry. Perhaps another 30% have Form 4473s filed with the FFL dealers where they were first purchased, but that is a fractured mishmash of records with a quite perishable life span. It is notable …


Letter Re: The Heavy Equipment Threat

Captain Rawles: I’ve been enjoying and learning valuable information from your books and your blog, and thought I’d share some of my expertise in hope of helping others to prepare.   If, like me, you’ve been slowly adding more security to your bug-in location or retreat, you’ve been adding perimeter defenses such as fencing, detectors, etc. in order to prevent people and/or vehicles from easily gaining access to your property.  If you have more funds than I do, then you’ve probably installed harder defenses, such as bollards, ditches, and maybe even concertina wire.  These measures will stop most vehicular threats, …


Gun and Magazine Ban Planned for Illinois

Reader Jim W. just sent word of horrendous new gun ban legislation in Illinois that is on the fast track to floor votes in the Illinois legislature. These laws would ban most semi-autos and even pump-actions! Magazines that can hold 11+ rounds of magazines would also be banned. I recommend that Illinois residents read the text of the bills, regularly monitor their status, and of course contact their legislators. For the sake of expediency, I’m quoting from the NRA-ILA web site, verbatim: It is imperative that you contact your state Senator IMMEDIATELY to express your opposition to House Bills 815 …


Banning Our Birthright: Feinstein’s New, Ugly Legislation

Here are some details on the proposed gun and magazine ban, directly Madame Feinstein’s web site. Also see this PDF. In summary, the law includes some handguns, it requires nationwide registration, background checks and fingerprinting, even for current owners, just one evil feature-such as a pistol grip–can get a semi-auto banned, and it mentions: “Grandfathering weapons legally possessed on the date of enactment.” Does this mean that your heirs must turn in your guns for destruction? Let’s wait to see the wording of the bill that is introduced. But regardless, this is definitely bad legislation, so start contacting your legislators! …


Letter Re: Ballistic Clipboards

Hello Mr. Rawles, I don’t like to bother you, but I would like it if you could let your readers know that if they are wanting to do something to help protect kids/ teachers in schools that don’t allow weapons, a gift of a ballistic clip board (from one of SurvivalBlog’s advertisers) would be a small step. I have a female teacher friend that accepted the gift to her. I know she’s not pro gun, but also know she’s pro kid, so I figure this is a fairly inexpensive way to allow some sort of capability of protection in a …


Letter Re: A Nation of Glass

James, After the Sandy Hook tragedy I got thinking of my own personal security . From limited information in the press the perpetrator came though the window because the doors were locked . After  sending a few rounds through the tempered glass , the glass pulverized and he simply stepped though and started his killing spree . Question , where was the window located ? If it was a side-light to the door then it would be a double paned tempered glass window . Question, if it was a side-light window why no laminated wire mesh? That would have slowed …


Of Wolves, Bureaucrats, Biologist-Activists, and Assorted Parasites

I’ve come to the conclusion that our worst imaginings of Canadian timber wolves (purposefully introduced to the Lower 48 by do-gooder bureaucrats in 1995) might have been insufficient. To those of us who live in the rural west, these land sharks are well known for their fanged depredations on sheep, cattle, deer, elk, and moose. But their greater menace–at least to humans–might actually be in the form of a tiny tapeworm that they carry: Echinococcus granulosus. This tapeworm was endemic with these wolves, long before they were introduced. Tapeworm cysts have been identified in both Idaho and Montana in recent …


Letter Re: How to Thwart Nigerian Scammers: Demand Proof of Life

Captain Rawles, Regarding the multiple letters you are receiving on the Nigerian scams, you may want to warn your readers that participation can lead to incarceration. The reader who told his story of USAA bank taking the amount of the fake checks from his account was lucky. Frequently, these scams prey on people who get greedy and suffer the consequences. In many cases, people receive a check (sometimes out of the blue, with no prior email contact) in the mail with a request to deposit it and send back 10% or 25%, etc to an international address (often in Canada). …


Europe In The News: Ominous Prospects, by Michael F.

It appears as if there are some new developments going in on the Continent, that unfortunately appear to be old memes being resurrected for the 21st Century. Let’s take a look at the highlights of recent events: Greece continues to have widespread protests and riots as unemployment remains above 25% (25.4%, when measured in August, 2012) and austerity measures continue to be implemented. Spain is in a deep recession, and has been since 2008.  The banking industry in Spain alone could require 60 Billion Euros to remain solvent. Portugal and Italy are in similar straits to Spain and all three are close to emulating the protests, …


Two Letters Re: How to Thwart Nigerian Scammers: Demand Proof of Life

James,  Another variation to watch out for is when the scammer asks you to pay using an escrow account supposedly managed by Amazon or eBay.   A too good to be true add is found, you respond, the scammer/seller tells you he sells using an eBay escrow account. The merchandise will ship to you after you send a check to Escrow. The scammer directs you to a link sent in the scammers/sellers email that appears to be an eBay site.   The scammer creates the illusion of security using a brand like eBay with some official looking legal contract showing how …