Some advice from FerFAL at SURVIVING IN ARGENTINA
1)Have a gun. The moment to rush to the gun store to buy a firearm is not when looters are around the corner. Get it now. Any gun is better than no gun but you want a big bore handgun (for example a Glock) and a long arm, carbine or shotgun.
2)Get training. Owning a gun and not having professional training on how to use it is like having a car but not knowing how to drive it, and its just as dangerous. One of the store owners that got killed in the recent lootings that took place in Argentina died because he had no defensive shooting training and lacked proper tactics on how to deal with the situation.
3)Organize. Talk with your neighbors, get to know them. Some of your neighbors may end up on the looter’s side, so get to know them well ahead of time. If the rioting gets out of control, it is you and your neighbors that will build barricades, post guard and protect your own community.
4)Stock up on supplies. Food, water, fuel, first aid, means of cooking food if light goes out. Besides the obvious disaster kit supplies, some tactical gear would be invaluable as well. Body armor would be priceless for times like these, while bugging in or posting guard outside with your neighbors. A good flashlight and a radio would be very useful too.
5) Stay put. When there’s rioting on the streets the best thing you can do is stay put and avoid the risk of traveling. It is usually stores that looters go after but some do attack private residences in which case a few shots are likely to send them away looking for an easier target. While there’s a small chance of looters going after private homes, it is much riskier to drive around in a city overrun by riot and looting. Not to mention, your home is much more likely to get picked clean with no one armed on the inside to look after it.
My comments on this advice:
1)I agree with advice up to the point when arson appears. I think it worth looking at how vulnerable your neighborhood is to arson and to be ready to run at the first signs of smoke if one’s area is vulnerable (densely builtup with lots of flammable material,etc.)
Every jerk out there knows about Molotov cocktails from the movies.
Older suburbs with large 1 acre lots are obviously less vulnerable, depending upon vegetation, time of year, climate,etc.
Some pictures from the USA urban riots of the 1960s:
http://yearofgiving.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/day-193-dc-riots.jpg
(Washington DC with Washington Monument in background)
2) However, the lists of deaths associated with the 1967 Detroit riots show Ferfal’s warning is valid –a lot of men were shot by snipers or by security forces who were frightened after being fired upon by snipers–especially if they thought someone was fleeing or trying to run through a roadblock.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_Detroit_riot
But note the damage: 412 buildings destroyed and 2509 stores looted or burned. 45 years later and the area has not recovered — it is slowly dying because anyone with any assets packed up and left.
Start now to make sure you are staying prepared.
Via: ferfal
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