July 23, 2012

A friend sent me this, which is interesting given today's (Friday, 20 July 2012) killing spree in Aurora:

A stampeding mob running away from tear gas ISN'T going to politely step around you and your loved ones. They will trample ANYTHING in the way of their desperate scramble for oxygen and they're just as deadly as a sniper's bullet if you fall down. That's why the first thing you need to do in a riot scenario is prepare yourself and those you love against tear gas so you can stay calm and escape to safety fast. Now, the best defense against tear gas is a gas mask... but most people don't have one on them (especially for each member of the family).

So to protect yourself and those with you, here are 3 quick tips for what to do...

* Have a pair of tight-fitting swim goggles with you - they're fast and easy to put on and will protect your eyes from the gas.

* Always keep a plastic zip-lock bag with a bandana for each person and a small plastic bottle of cider vinegar handy. The vinegar can help neutralize the gas, so quickly empty the bottle in the bag and soak the bandanas in the vinegar before putting them over your nose and mouth to breathe easier.

* Get upwind or escape to high ground (like a hill or building roof top) - The gas stays low to the ground and high ground is more defensible if you have to fight back when things get even uglier and looting breaks out.

Gag! Can people be so foolish? Even libertarians?

FRANKLY, the FIRST THING I WOULD DO is NOT GO THERE - at least not with a family with young children! This kind of riot is VERY unlikely to happen in any city without a major slum or ghetto or barrio area. Indeed, in any city NOT a suburb and under 100,000, and certainly not in any city of less than 12,000 (unless they happen to have a college or university). Not going to find this kind of thing in Newcastle or Hill City or Lead or Cortez or even Rosebud or Mission or Pine Ridge or Wheatland. And pretty unlikely in Chadron and Rapid City and Gillette and even Durango. Even if they have multiplex theaters.

Mama's Note: Let's see... if I followed this sort of advice and carried everything that "might" help in an emergency, I'd need a push cart or a small donkey.

You are right. Don't go there.

The big black hole in the reporting of this Aurora incident is the fact that, evidently, NOBODY ELSE WAS ARMED! And even worse, it appears that not one single person there made any attempt to resist this monster in ANY way. Now that's downright shameful.

Aurora is known to be less than gun friendly, and it was a pretty good bet that the place would be filled with clueless, helpless victims. Just what he wanted. There are even reports that "no gun" signs outside the theater proclaimed it a disarmed victim zone.


Does anyone think this nut (or FBI plant/ saboteur) would try this some place where it was commonly KNOWN that most people carried a gun? I don't think so. There is no place on earth where the risk of attack is zero, of course, but we can certainly get the number down a lot farther than it was in Aurora this week.

On a lighter note:

Heard this funny story the other day.

A man walked into a cowboy bar in Wyoming, looking like the tough oil rig worker he was. He was from "Joisey" and was laughing to himself at all the rubes standing around the room, so he decided to rob the joint. Pulling his little gun out of his pocket, he points it at the bartender and demands all the cash. The bartender just smiles and points behind himself to the mirror... where the would be robber sees at least five cowboys behind him with guns drawn and sighted on him, four more taking bets on who would drop the guy first.

He passed out cold.

An armed society is a polite society, and a safe one.