Reality Check: Battle on the Homefront

ISIS keeps threatening to attack us here at home. They have published lists, conducted internet attacks, taken photos at specific locations, and more. And every time they make this claim, the Veteran community loudly proclaims how joyful it would be if ISIS came hunting here. We saw in Garland Texas just how efficient the removal of terrorists can be… or so we thought.

But let’s step out of the world of fantasy for just a moment and think about it for just a second.

I don’t know about you but the various forms of firepower at my disposal have just a tad bit more penetration than a .22 cal. Based on the images seen on individuals pages on Facebook, quite a few of you have some significant ideas about caliber, impact, range, and accuracy.

All of those add up to a hazardous environment.

If you are truly serious about wanting ISIS to come hunting you at home, so you don’t have to go anywhere and can have beer while you are waiting, you need to take some steps first in order to have a more productive encounter.

First, you need to start a neighborhood engagement team. This is not a fighting unit. This is to teach the children of the local area, inside the maximum range of your weapons, what to do in the event the alarm sounds. You should get an alarm for the community; one of those old crank air raid sirens should work well, and teach the kids the difference between cover and concealment. That will be hard. There is not much cover in the average neighborhood.

We might want to add some armor plate to the baby’s room. Since the baby cannot reasonably be expected to take cover, a bit of plate to keep the stray rounds from penetrating the crib might be in order. Frankly, we might want to consider armor plate as a new home feature and give it about a two foot minimum height so we can lay down behind it and be reasonably safe from small arms fire.

Brick homes sound great but depending upon what is being shot, that brick is not going to stand up to much abuse. You will need that armor plate. And bonus, the plate will serve the same purpose if the state is coming for you too. Two square feet of ¾ inch plate costs about $150 so you need to budget that. It’s for the kids not you.

You need to establish sectors of fire. It simply will not do to have your neighbor pointing the wrong way and letting those terrorists get too close. You need that neighborhood engagement team for that as well. Possibly you could incorporate some AirSoft training into the mix so everyone can rehearse. I know it’s beneath your dignity but it will help the civilians understand the process better.

Establish your command of the area, develop your plan, and sit back and wait for ISIS to come to your home and allow you to successfully defend it. Awesome.

…and now, back in the world of reality.

The last thing in the world I want is terrorist attacks at home. For one thing, I don’t want my neighbors opening fire at will on anything that moves because they are scared. Over penetration from rifle fire is a real danger and no house in the United States built to normal construction standards qualifies as cover to even pistol fire. That brick home might be pretty and it might help the home value but it will not stop much and even if it did once, it will not do it for long.

Imagine the reaction of the rest of the country. We already have issues with how the Patriot Act was interpreted by the government. Every time there is a shooting we face challenges to the 2^nd Amendment. Add some overzealous individual turning a neighborhood into a war zone because they thought ISIS was coming and we will see a reaction that I guarantee most veterans who love their guns won’t like.

I fear the idea of attacks on our soil because I fear the repercussions. I don’t fear ISIS will come get me. I don’t fear them finding my name on the internet. I fear someone in a state of “buck fever” who shoots anything that moves because they think they can.

If this nation were to be really gripped by the idea that an ISIS attack was imminent somewhere, how many innocent people could be killed for being in the wrong place at the wrong time? How many kids might be killed or injured because someone opened fire, even justified fire, because someone was spraying rounds? Hunting accidents happen every year because the hunter failed to consider what was behind the target.

The statement that there is no R.O.E. here is ludicrous. The law did not stop being the law just because you want it to be. You might be able to defend yourself but you have to obey the same rules that have always been there, and if the fear of happy fire gets too high, we might see more rules instead of less.

Perhaps I am being a pessimist, but if so, it has kept me alive when people really were trying to kill me so I will keep right on being pessimistic.

I prefer ISIS right where they are. If you really want to fight ISIS, set up an account with go.fund.me. and start your very own mercenary company and go.get.some.

Wishing they would come here, well, ill-advised is the tamest term I can use. I have other terms that I could use but I will forego them for the moment.

Lastly, while most of those who say they want ISIS to come here are really just making a bravado statement, I hope you are anyway, the civilians who read that post don’t get it and think you are a bit crazy which does not help your cause. Veterans have a hard enough time with the civilian community thinking we are all a bunch of zero fused crazies. Posting comments about turning America into a free fire zone is not helping.

You see the real problem with ISIS coming here to fight means that we will have more to fear from each other than we have to fear from ISIS. Besides, I like my house. If a house has to get shot to pieces in the name of freedom and righteousness, I would rather see the property values in Syria take the hit than me.

Feel free to tell me I am wrong. You know you want too.

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This article first appeared in The Havok Journal on 20MAY15.