Dear James,
I concur with The Wanderer’s assessment of the MS-13 gang. That gang is very active in the Houston area where I currently reside. A young teenage girl recently stabbed and killed an MS-13 member in a city park (perhaps in self defense). Her lawyer had her kept in jail because they thought jail was safer for her than being free and in the public, especially since the media had to plaster images of her face everywhere. I’ve bypassed some otherwise nice real estate in the past because of MS-13 activity in near areas. I view those in gangs as members of an evil covenant.
I initially planned a retreat land purchase in a Texas county where the first Texas based ancestor of mine had settled. He was given the land for his participation in the Battle of San Jacinto. Being a bit sentimental (or semi-mental?), I’d hoped to buy some of his land “back” as the nearby communities are very small.
I read “Patriots” for the first time in March 2006 and truly appreciate the insight on the different scenarios. The biker gang scenario reminded me of the proximity (50 miles or so) of my ancestor’s land to one of Texas most known prisons in Huntsville and thus have dropped my “repossess the land” aspirations. Here’s a link to a map I found of Texas Department of Corrections facilities. I suppose other state governments may have similar maps.
I’m one who had been better prepared in the past (kept all the firearms and ammo), but let the cares of this life distract me. Now I am getting my preparations back up to the level they need to be at. Escaping Houston is a priority. I remained in Houston during the “less touted than Katrina” Hurricane Rita bug-out that clogged Texas highways and depleted local fuel stations of fuel. I had fuel, food and weapons. I kind of felt like “The Omega Man” in a surreal, empty city (as empty as I’d ever seen it), but after reading “Patriots” I saw several holes in my “lifeboat”. I’m working on patching them.
I’m currently looking for a new place to live anyway, so the novel, the recently discovered blog and the excellent, recently received Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course all seem, to a degree, to be divinely timed in my life. A distant, but like-minded, relative has even invited me to visit her in Idaho. Who knows what will come of it if I visit?
I plan to be a participant in the Ten Cent Challenge soon.
I’m eagerly looking forward to getting a copy of Rawles on Retreats and Relocation. Any updates on the publication date? [JWR Adds: I’m still planning on sometime in October.]
Nice to see a Texas based food storage (Best Prices Storable Foods) company advertising. Their FAQ page is excellent. I hope to make the RWVA shoot in Mingus, Texas in October. – M. Artixerxes
Sir:
I am a security guard by profession and I would like to add something about MS-13. I live in Virginia were this gang is prevalent, I see them every day.
A little research and you will find The Wanderer very wrong. While they do use the machete for “hits”, to say that they do not use guns just shows he has very limited knowledge about the gang.
MS-13 emerged in the 1980s during El Salvador’s violent civil war and is estimated as of 2005 to have 50,000 members in Central America and 30,000 members in the United States.
The founding members were all soldiers that made it a rule that all members receive military training. There have been MS-13 members caught at our borders trying to sneak in grenades and other weapons. The gangs have moved from beyond their Salvadoran, Mexican and Los Angeles origins and can be found in Belize, West Honduras , Guatemala , Canada , Mexico , and over 30 U.S. states , largely in Washington, DC in the Maryland and Virginia suburbs, Carrollton, Texas and Long Island, New York . Some have even been founded in Spain, Italy, and Belgium .
One of the ways in which the MS-13 has grown and spread has been through United States deportation policy. The United States has a law allowing for the deportation of non-citizens convicted of felonies to their country of origin. Salvadoran members of MS-13 were and are deported to El Salvador, where they recruit more members. Because of the meager wages provided by prisons, many jail guards in El Salvador are easily corrupted through bribes, or are forcefully coerced to release the recently deported MS-13 members. – Dan N.