FBI: Al Qaeda May Strike Shopping Malls in LA, Chicago

[Venus Pax]

Hit our buildings, they can be repaired, rebuilt.
Hit our hearts -- not so easy to mend

Perfectly put.

Christmas is the major cultural holiday in the U.S. Both Christians and non-Christians celebrate this holiday to some degree or another. What would ruin or stifle the celebration more than a terrorist attack?

Although I agree with TXI that our concealed carry status wouldn't prevent them from attacking us, I do think that a citizen's abililty to neutralize the threat could reduce the number of deaths.

[Walkin' Jack]

They sure don't want to come to TEXAS if they know whats good for them. Not on the ground anyway. Bein' a bunch of cowardly backshooters I doubt we could engage them in a straigt up fight. They would rather hit us from the air when we aren't lookin'. But if they ever did try anything in the way of a fair fight on the ground they would surely learn the deeper meaning of the word terror.

At last count I'm prepared to dispatch a little over 6,000 of them all by my lonesome.

[stroo]

I lurk in a couple of forae that seem to have people linked to the intelligence community. This scenario has been on the radar for quite a while on those sites. The consensus on those sites is that the terrorists would have a team, with one team collecting victims inside a mall and a second team outside setting up ambushes for first responders. Think of the Beslan massacre at a Russian school a few years ago.

While armed CHLers may not stop such an attack, they might be able to disrupt it enough to hold down the casualties significantly. That isn't going to happen in LA or Chicago where the only GGs with guns are going to be first responders who will be ambushed by the outside team. Therefore from the terrosts' view, an attack in LA or Chicago has a significantly higher chance of greater damage than does an attack in Dallas, Houston, Atlanta or Miami. While LA and Chicago may be slightly higher on the media radar, they aren't that much higher. The probabilities of greater success are more likely to drive the terrorists than the slightly higher
media profiles of Chicago and LA.

[TX Rancher]

The idea of armed civilians (CHL) in Texas may have some impact on local homegrown AQ wannabe’s, but I seriously doubt its any deterrent to AQ trained terrorists.

This is the organization that puts its folks through live fire training in Pakistan and then sends them off to do battle in Afghanistan and Iraq where they engage units such as the Green Berets, Rangers, Blackwatch, and SAS…I seriously doubt the thought of a few Texans carrying a pistol and maybe a couple spare mags is going to strike fear in their hearts.

As I said, it may slow down wannabe’s, and a trained individual could be instrumental in bringing an end to their attack if they tried it. But you would probably be nothing more than a speed bump for a real AQ squad.

[Liberty]

The idea of armed civilians (CHL) in Texas may have some impact on local homegrown AQ wannabe’s, but I seriously doubt its any deterrent to AQ trained terrorists.

This is the organization that puts its folks through live fire training in Pakistan and then sends them off to do battle in Afghanistan and Iraq where they engage units such as the Green Berets, Rangers, Blackwatch, and SAS…I seriously doubt the thought of a few Texans carrying a pistol and maybe a couple spare mags is going to strike fear in their hearts.

As I said, it may slow down wannabe’s, and a trained individual could be instrumental in bringing an end to their attack if they tried it. But you would probably be nothing more than a speed bump for a real AQ squad.

While I pretty much agree with the whole drift of your message, I just thought it is interesting on this Veterans day weekend to note that there are quite a few previous Green Berets, Rangers, Marines and Seals that happen to have CHLs.

[frankie_the_yankee]

I used to think my stainless Commander was too heavy to carry all day. My SP101 was my prime carry piece for many years. But the last couple of years, when I go to the mall, I usually pack the Commander. The weight isn't so bad.

In some ways it's reassuring.

[lawrnk]

Good observation TEX!

The terrorists may be crazy, but they know that in Texas there would be return fire

A suicide bomber doesn't care.

LA and Chicago are much higher visibility targets. Although I know we are all proud of our "tough' state, I would be 100% surprised if Al Qaeda gave that a second thought.

txinvestigator nailed it. LA and Chicago are higher profile cities. I doubt Al Qaeda or any other terrorist organization for that matter, could care less about some of the other things mentioned.

I completely disagree with you both. Texas would logically be a second hit based on many factors.

Houston is the 4th largest city in the US.
Houston has the worlds largest heathcare center.
Houston is the home of Nasa
Houston has the 2nd largest concentration of fortune 500 companies
The Port of Houston ranks first in the United States in international waterborne tonnage handled and second in total cargo tonnage handled.
I could state the most obvious about texas city/pasadena...but that would be too easy. Anyone want to think about what a little bomb would do to new york, chicago, LA? Not much. Now imagine it hitting our refinery areas, back to back, shoulder to shoulder. Anyone else think about most of our national strategic oil reserves? Wanna guess where they reside??

[Paladin]

Good observation TEX!

The terrorists may be crazy, but they know that in Texas there would be return fire

A suicide bomber doesn't care.

LA and Chicago are much higher visibility targets. Although I know we are all proud of our "tough' state, I would be 100% surprised if Al Qaeda gave that a second thought.

AQ likes to plan things out in great detail. They do pay attention to details. A civilian concealed carrier once shot a suicide bomber in Israel before the bomber could blow themselves up.

But that's almost beside the point as AQ often uses a combination of shooting/explosives.

[seeker_two]

Good observation TEX!

The terrorists may be crazy, but they know that in Texas there would be return fire

A suicide bomber doesn't care.

LA and Chicago are much higher visibility targets. Although I know we are all proud of our "tough' state, I would be 100% surprised if Al Qaeda gave that a second thought.

AQ likes to plan things out in great detail. They do pay attention to details. A civilian concealed carrier once shot a suicide bomber in Israel before the bomber could blow themselves up.

But that's almost beside the point as AQ often uses a combination of shooting/explosives.

Good points. I've thought that AQ's next attack was just a truck bomb & a high-school football game away. A shopping mall would be even worse.

And I think the mall locations DO take CCW into account. AQ plans these things to the letter, and they don't want variables like CHL holders shooting them before they can hit the boom button.

As for being vigilant...you should be already....

[zeroskillz]

Mall Ninjas Unite!