Terrorist Watchlist

72 Ways to End up on the Terrorist Watchlist

By Dave Dolbee published on in General

Come and Take It!, Molon Labe!, From My Cold Dead Hands! We have all heard the phrases and likely repeated many of them at one time or another, in or out of context to the Second Amendment and our rights. After a friend received a call the other day from the FBI due to a Facebook post, my interest was piqued and the search began. Quickly, it became apparent just how easy it is (or was) to get yourself put on a watchlist.

Terrorist Watchlist questionnaire

The details are rather scary and closely tied to the Obama administration. However, the links below all go to official U.S. Government sites and documents. It seems the Obama administration cast a fairly wide net when it came to labeling someone as a terrorist or ‘potential terrorist.’ How wide is that net today? Unfortunately, I do not know, but I’d bet many of you do.

Back in the days before the 44^th President, the term ‘terrorist’ brought with it a rather narrow definition that was applied to the worst of the worst. Terrorist was reserved for people such as Osama bin Laden and Islamic jihadists bent of committing mass murder to support their political/religious agenda. However, our country (at least at the Executive level) went through a transformation. Many of us heard about it, but may or may not have fully understood the implications. Instead of simple political correctness by removing all references to Islam from government training materials, the term ‘terrorist’ or at least ‘potential terrorist’ started being applied to large groups of people—and by people I mean American citizens.

I do not want to run around screaming that the sky is falling or claim we all need to suddenly go dark or jump off the grid. However, could reading a firearm related blog such as this earn you a spot as a ‘potential terrorist’ under the government’s definition? How about posting your support for the Second Amendment and the right of self-defense to social media? What if you said nothing at all, but someone else included you in a photo or facial recognition software identified (or misidentified) you? The answers to these and many more questions are in the following links, but you’ll have to do some research and decide for yourself—however, even as the editor and senior writer for this blog, I have passed many, many backgrounds for permits, TSA precheck, Form 4473… So, my recommendation would be to read the following carefully, but not to read to much into the documents.

The documents predate August 2015, so take that into account. We have a new President and administration. I am not sure how up-to-date or applicable to today’s administration some of these linked documents or sites may be, but they will make you think and with the midterm elections around the corner. For example, today I received a form letter from one of my state senators, Tammy Duckworth, about how she supported common sense gun control and opposed national concealed carry reciprocity, blah, blah, blah. Our votes count; use them wisely.

Here is the list of 72 types of Americans that are considered to be ‘potential terrorists’ in official U.S. government documents as of August 2015.

Each listing below is an active link to the original source documentation indicating when and where the listed ‘subversives’ were originally considered a threat:

1. Those that talk about “individual liberties”

2. Those that advocate for states’ rights

3. Those that want “to make the world a better place”

4. “The colonists who sought to free themselves from British rule”

5. Those that are interested in “defeating the Communists”

6. Those that believe “that the interests of one’s own nation are separate from the interests of other nations or the common interest of all nations”

7. Anyone that holds a “political ideology that considers the state to be unnecessary, harmful, or undesirable”

8. Anyone that possesses an “intolerance toward other religions”

9. Those that “take action to fight against the exploitation of the environment and/or animals”

10. “Anti-Gay”

11. “Anti-Immigrant”

12. “Anti-Muslim”

13. “The Patriot Movement”

14. “Opposition to equal rights for gays and lesbians”

15. Members of the Family Research Council

16. Members of the American Family Association

17. Those that believe that Mexico, Canada and the United States “are secretly planning to merge into a European Union-like entity that will be known as the ‘North American Union’”

18. Members of the American Border Patrol/American Patrol

19. Members of the Federation for American Immigration Reform

20. Members of the Tennessee Freedom Coalition

21. Members of the Christian Action Network

22. Anyone that is “opposed to the New World Order”

23. Anyone that is engaged in “conspiracy theorizing”

24. Anyone that is opposed to Agenda 21

25. Anyone that is concerned about FEMA camps

26. Anyone that “fears impending gun control or weapons confiscations”

27. The militia movement

28. The sovereign citizen movement

29. Those that “don’t think they should have to pay taxes”

30. Anyone that “complains about bias”

31. Anyone that “believes in government conspiracies to the point of paranoia”

32. Anyone that “is frustrated with mainstream ideologies”

33. Anyone that “visits extremist websites/blogs” 

34. Anyone that “establishes website/blog to display extremist views”

35. Anyone that “attends rallies for extremist causes”

36. Anyone that “exhibits extreme religious intolerance”

37. Anyone that “is personally connected with a grievance”

38. Anyone that “suddenly acquires weapons”

39. Anyone that “organizes protests inspired by extremist ideology”

40. “Militia or unorganized militia”

41. “General right-wing extremist”

42. Citizens that have “bumper stickers” that are patriotic or anti-U.N.

43. Those that refer to an “Army of God”

44. Those that are “fiercely nationalistic (as opposed to universal and international in orientation)”

45. Those that are “anti-global”

46. Those that are “suspicious of centralized federal authority”

47. Those that are “reverent of individual liberty”

48. Those that “believe in conspiracy theories”

49. Those that have “a belief that one’s personal and/or national ‘way of life’ is under attack”

50. Those that possess “a belief in the need to be prepared for an attack either by participating in paramilitary preparations and training or survivalism”

51. Those that would “impose strict religious tenets or laws on society (fundamentalists)”

52. Those that would “insert religion into the political sphere”

53. Anyone that would “seek to politicize religion”

54. Those that have “supported political movements for autonomy”

55. Anyone that is “anti-abortion”

56. Anyone that is “anti-Catholic”

57. Anyone that is “anti-nuclear”

58. “Rightwing extremists”

59. “Returning veterans”

60. Those concerned about “illegal immigration”

61. Those that “believe in the right to bear arms”

62. Anyone that is engaged in “ammunition stockpiling”

63. Anyone that exhibits “fear of Communist regimes”

64. “Anti-abortion activists”

65. Those that are against illegal immigration

66. Those that talk about “the New World Order” in a “derogatory” manner

67. Those that have a negative view of the United Nations

68. Those that are opposed “to the collection of federal income taxes”

69. Those that supported former presidential candidates Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin and Bob Barr

70. Those that display the Gadsden Flag (“Don’t Tread On Me”)

71. Those that believe in “end times” prophecies

72. Evangelical Christians

Just for fun score yourself. Without reading each document or visiting each link, but based on the title alone, how many of these could apply to you? One point each, for a maximum score of 72. Enter your score, thoughts, and results of your research in the comment section.

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Tags: Gun Control, Second Amendment, watchlist

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The mission of Cheaper Than Dirt!'s blog, "The Shooter's Log," is to provide information-not opinions-to our customers and the shooting community. We want you, our readers, to be able to make informed decisions. The information provided here does not represent the views of Cheaper Than Dirt!

For additional information see the following links:  

Blog Table of Contents

Top 10 List of Prepper info
Top Rated Prepper Handbook Posts of all time
Top Rated Prepper Website

Night Vision vs Thermal Vision
The Best Gun
Best Handgun Selection Criteria
The right amount of Ammo
Country Home Security Plan

Home Invasion Response Plan
Guns in plain sight
Intruder Detection
Riot Preparations
Double Barreled Defense

Modern Home Security
Sustainable City Survival
BB Gun
Top 5 Combat Rifles
Best Prepper Dog

Random Security
Modern Defensive Shotguns
Active Shooter
Top 10 AR-15s
Ballistic Tip AR Ammo

AR Optics
Best Survival Knife

Click on the labels below for similar topics 

Surviving a Partial Collapse

Lets start by Categorizing Catastrophic Events to put them in perspective:

Level 10 - the entire planet earth is destroyed
Level  9 - 90% of the humans on planet earth are killed (Asteroid Strike)
Level  8 - 50% of the humans on planet earth are killed
Level  7 - 90% of the humans on a continent are killed (Nuclear Winter)
Level  6 - 50% of the humans on a continent are killed
Level  5 - 90% of the humans in a region are killed (EMP)
Level  4 - 50% of the humans in a region are killed
Level  3 - 10% of the humans in a region are killed
Level  2 -  5% of the humans in a region are killed
Level  1 - single digit % of the humans in a region are killed

An Asteroid Strike, Nuclear Winter,  EMP or a Solar Flare would likely cause a total collapse of our country civilization.  Such an event could be classified from Level 3 to Level 9, but a more likely scenario would be a temporary Partial Collapse that would be from an event in the Level 1 to Level 3 range and which might include things like:

1. Large scale natural like a Super Volcano
2. Man-made disaster or Terrorist Attack such as a small Iranian nuke in several US cities
3. A global economic recession and Hyper Inflation
4. Civil, political and religious unrest with Riots and Looting
5. A nation wide Pandemic <- Click on Links for more info

More common events like Winter Storms, Hurricanes, Floods and Power Outages can cause regional breakdowns, but help will soon be on the way.  These are Level 1 events.  Where the really serious problem starts is when the domestic "Help" is also incapacitated and won't be able to come.  This quickly escalates an event classification by one or more Levels.

Realistically, most Preppers can only afford to prepare for things in the Level 1 to Level 4 scale.  The preparations or these events are similar except for how long you need to prepare for, how much water and food you need and how much seed & land for longer term events. 

This is where our Step by Step Prepper Plan comes in handy. The more you follow the plan and repeat the cycle, the better prepared you are for longer and more serious events.  Once you get to the point where you have a 1 - 2 year supply of food, seed, tools for a Prepper Garden, Livestock and extra supplies to Barter then you are ready to start working on an underground shelter with Solar Power. There are a number of sources on this, and some group retreats have them included.  The more catastrophic Level 5 and higher events will likely require a substantial investment to survive underground.  Nuclear preparations are well documented and information is readily available and not expensive.  www.ki4u.com has lots of good nuclear info, products and links to even more.

Below is a picture showing the before (bottom) and after (top) effects of an 18 kilo tonne (kt) nuclear bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima Japan. The nuclear bomb sizes last published were 200,000 kt, or 11,000 times more powerful.  Likely nuclear targets for the US include Washington DC, Houston, New Orleans, New York, Chicago and Los Angles plus other large population centers.

 

The devastation is major but primarily on the surface.  Radioactive fall out is likely to kill just as many as the blast. 

After having your preps in order, getting to your retreat early is a key.  Recognizing the RED FLAG warnings that it is time to bug out is important.  Short term Level 1 events can be dealt with in the city, with a good Urban Plan.  Sustainable City Survival is possible if well prepared, but chances are lower than in the country.  Knowing what to expect in urban areas will help.  Country dwellers should expect to be swarmed with city gangs desperately seeking food and water. 

Once you are well stocked, you need a security plan to protect your supplies and loved ones.  Here are some links to read about security:

Night Vision vs Thermal Vision
Investing for Preppers (Financial Security)
The Best Gun
Best Handgun Selection Criteria

Group Security Drills
Urban Survival Perspective
Urban Survival Plan
The right amount of Ammo

Passive Layered Security
Communications
Actionable Intelligence
PVC Survival Tube

Using your garden for cover
Security Patrol Pack (or Bug Out pack)
Country Home Security Plan
Home Invasion Response Plan

Guns in plain sight
Situational Awareness
Intruder Detection
Riot Preparations

Double Barreled Defense
Modern Home Security
Sustainable City Survival
BB Gun

Top 5 Combat Rifles
Best Prepper Dog

For additional information see the following links:
Blog Table of Contents

See similar topics by clicking on the labels below

Prepper New Years Resolutions

Whether you are a Beginner just getting started, or an Advanced Prepper, there are some gaps in your plan or some critical needs that are high on your list. Your critical need may be your first gun, home defense gun, a handgun, or some Ammo.  Do you have the basics covered as recommended by the US Government?  Too often, our plans do not include the "most critical items" like Water.  Instead, we jump right into the food.  While a healthy food plan is essential, it is not the first priority.

As a part of your New Years Resolutions, visit our Step by Step Prepper plan and Table of Contents to see what you may be missing. Then fine-tune your plan and set out some specific goals for the new year.

For additional information see the following links: 
  Blog Table of Contents;
 

Or click on a label below for similar topics.

The First 5 Things To Do After a Crisis

You’re at work when all of the sudden one of your co-worker’s shouts with a terrible shriek, “Did you hear?” He can see the confused look on your face and explains, “The financial markets just collapsed and everyone’s running to the bank and ATMs.” What should we do?

Preparing for civil unrest in your town is much like prepping for bugging in during any other emergency or weather disaster. You should have plenty of food, water, batteries, medicine and first aid, an alternative cooking method, fuel and lighting for your family for a week.

Our friends at Cheaper Than Dirt have a weekly blog with some really good topics.  I suggest you sign up to receive it each week.  To read more about what you should do immediately upon realizing a crisis has or is happening, click HERE. 

For additional information see the following links:
Blog Table of Contents;
Or click on a label below for similar topics.

Why I avoid doing business in Gun Free Zones

1. Gun Free Zones are dangerous with 86% of the mass public shootings occurring in Gun Free Zones.  Some sources report this figure as 92%.  This means a mass shooting is more than 5 times more likely to occur in a Gun Free Zone.  Gun control proponents point out that many shootings occur in private homes so I must ask, do they want to ban guns in our homes too?  The real answer is yes.
2. The highest fatality shootings are in Gun Free Zones according to an FBI study of 160 shootings.  There are 7 times higher fatalities when it is necessary to wait for police arrive to stop an active shooter compared to an armed citizen being present and stopping the shooter. Combined, this means you are 35 times more likely to get shot in a Gun Free Zone than in public places that do not ban guns.
3. The highest casualty shootings in the FBI study of 160 shootings were all in Gun Free Zones.
4. Decision Makers who declare & enforce Gun Free Zones are usually negligent in their responsibility to provide adequate security when they disarm law abiding citizens, leading them to become victims.  Until there are more civil suits to hold decision makers responsible, this is likely to continue.  In some cases, business have installed metal detectors and implement searches to enforce their Gun Free Zones.  All this does is disarm law abiding citizens. 
5. The US is not the only country that has shootings. Many European countries have more and all of their shootings are in Gun Free Zones.  In fact France suffered more casualties (murders and injuries) from mass public shootings in 2015 than the US has suffered during Obama’s entire presidency (UPDATED 524 to 428) and their gun laws are far stricter than the US who has 4.9 times their population.  Further, in countries that ban guns, their total violent crime (not just shootings) goes up, not down.  Most of the big numbers of shootings that gun banners talk about are done by the police, or are suicides.
6. There are only two mass public shootings since at least 1950 that have not been part of some other crime where at least four people have been killed in an area where civilians are generally allowed to have guns.  These are the International House of Pancakes restaurant in Carson City, Nevada on September 6, 2011 and the Gabrielle Giffords shooting in Tucson, Arizona on January 8, 2011   This clearly shows that when someone decides to go out and randomly shoot people, they pick Gun Free Zones.
7. FBI data indicates that crime goes down as gun ownership goes up.  Just look at Chicago IL, where Obama was Senator.  They have some of the strictest gun laws and highest crime rates.

 It is important that we avoid Gun Free Zones and send the message that such a decision can cause businesses to lose customers.

Picture courtesy of: http://thelibertarianrepublic.com/study-92-of-mass-shootings-happen-in-gun-free-zones/

 For more information see these links:

1. http://prepperhandbook.blogspot.com/2015/11/gun-free-zone-facts.html
2. http://crimeresearch.org/2015/06/comparing-death-rates-from-mass-public-shootings-in-the-us-and-europe/
3. http://crimeresearch.org/tag/mass-public-shootings/
4. http://www.nationalreview.com/article/335739/facts-about-mass-shootings-john-fund
5. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/oct/7/ken-blackwell-ban-gun-free-zones/
6. https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2014/september/fbi-releases-study-on-active-shooter-incidents/pdfs/a-study-of-active-shooter-incidents-in-the-u.s.-between-2000-and-2013
7. http://crimeresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/CPRC-Mass-Shooting-Analysis-Bloomberg2.pdf
8. http://www.naturalnews.com/047378_murder_sprees_armed_citizens_FBI_report.html
9.  http://www.weeklystandard.com/is-it-true-armed-civilians-have-never-stopped-a-mass-shooting/article/690808
10.  

  This last one tells about some of the errors in the Gun Banner reports and how fact check organization said it was mostly false.

 For additional topics from the Prepper Handbook see: BLOG TABLE OF CONTENTS

at http://prepperhandbook.blogspot.com/2015/07/blog-table-of-contents.html 

Best Hand Gun Selection Criteria

The perfect handgun would be light, compact, fit your hand well, be very accurate, quite, hold lots of high powered rounds with a lot of knock down power, but not have much kick/recoil.  Unfortunately, there is no such thing as the perfect gun for all occasions.  However, it is possible to select an excellent gun for a given purpose. When selecting a personal handgun, here are some key things to consider. 
 

A. Intended use - this helps determine the size.

1. Personal concealed carry - in your pocket, in a purse or on your person.   This calls for a small, light-weight, thin gun with a smooth shape so it can be easily extracted.  Note small guns may not fit larger hands well and the short barrel makes more noise and is less accurate.
2. Open carry, home or car defense.  For this, you can select a larger weapon that fits your hand well, has more rounds and less recoil than a lighter weapon.  Large guns may not fit smaller hands well, but there are intermediate size guns that are a good compromise.  They are also heavier and a bit cumbersome to carry at times.  For a home protection gun, a safety might be an important consideration, especially if there are children in the home however law enforcement personnel often prefer not to have one as it can delay being able to use your weapon.
3. Professional Use - Law enforcement needs a Glock 22 or a Smith & Wesson M&P40 Pistol, both 40 caliber, with a small automatic as a backup concealed gun. The backup might be a Glock 27 or an S&W Shield, both of which use the same ammo.
4. Target practice and recreational shooting only.  For this, you need a 22 Long Rifle (LR) pistol which is the most common and lowest cost ammunition.  The stainless steel Ruger Mark III is a good choice for this. There are also some revolvers with interchangeable cylinders so you can shoot 22 LR and 22 Magnum; a good example is the Ruger Single Six #0626. This provides for a low cost 22 LR target pistol and a higher powered 22 Winchester Magnum pistol with some suitability for personal defense making it a dual purpose gun. It is also a lot of fun to shoot a gun like the ones that won the old west.

B. Frequency of use - This determines whether an Automatic or Revolver might be best.

1. Semi-frequent - If the gun will be shot, cleaned and oil several times per year, an Automatic is an excellent choice. It holds more rounds of ammo and is faster to reload.  Automatics are the top choice of law enforcement for their primary gun although some hot, humid, tropical countries still carry stainless steel Revolvers.
2. In-frequent -  The gun is likely to be initially shot a few times, but then probably put away and not shot, cleaned nor oiled for years.  A stainless steel Revolver can be stuffed in a purse, sock drawer or car glove compartment and left for years and it will not rust or jam up and will still shoot reliably. In this case, the ammo is more likely to fail unless you have chrome or nickle plated bullets like the Hornady Critical Defense and Critical Duty or Winchester Silver Tips.  Brass and steel casings will oxidize and are a little more likely to cause a problem in Automatics than Revolvers.

A revolver can shoot the first load of ammo faster than an Automatic in skilled hands, but the Automatic is faster for the average shooter.  The Revolver is slightly slower to reload, even with speed loaders but is slightly more reliable although many would disagree.  

C. Size and strength of shooter - This helps determine the caliber.

1. Small build & hands, weak arms suggests a 22 Magnum, 25 caliber, 32 caliber or 380 pistol.  The 380 is popular for women shooters. These sizes do not kick much but also do not have much knock-down power, so it is likely to require several shots to stop an attacker. There are some revolvers with interchangeable cylinders so you can shoot 22 LR and 22 Magnum; a good example is the Ruger Single Six #0626.
2. Medium build & hands, average arm strength, allows the shooter to carry a more powerful gun.  Consider a 38 special, 380 or 9mm, which is the most common caliber globally. These have about a 60% probability of a one shot stop, so two shots per attacker should be planned.
3. Large hands, strong arms.  The largest and most powerful calibers become an option here.  Consider a 357 Magnum, 40 caliber, which is the most common police caliber in the US, or the 45 caliber that was the most popular for many years and is still common.  These three have a 70% to 90% probability of a one-shot stop.  Note that a 357 Magnum will also shoot 38 special ammo for lower cost target practice. You might consider larger calibers if you select the larger, heavier gun, or consider a smaller caliber if you are selecting a smaller gun and don't like a gun that kicks.

The most common handguns used by law enforcement where the agency buys the gun is the Smith & Wesson 40 cal M&P and where the officer buys the gun, the most popular choice is a Glock, often a Glock 17 (9 mm) or a Glock 22 (40 cal). These two brands probably represent about 80% of the law enforcement weapons. These would be my first choices for an open carry, home or car defense gun, providing it will be shot, cleaned and oil several times per year.  If it is likely to be locked in my car glove compartment for years, I would select the S&W 686+ stainless steel Revolver. 

Let's look at a good choice for a concealed carry gun for a person who is not a regular shooter.  Below is a stainless steel Smith & Wesson 38 special Revolver, also known as a snub nose Revolver.  Many police officers carry this as a hidden backup gun. A Smith & Wesson Shield would be a good Automatic choice. A small gun is better than no gun at all and a gun that is too big to carry comfortably is likely to be left at home and worthless.  So it is better to err on the small comfortable side.

Cheaper than Dirt, a good source for ammo, guns and supplies, published a list of popular concealed Automatic weapons that can be found at: The 12 Best Concealed Carry Guns. These guns range from $230 to $994 with several in the lower price range.  There is also a list of runner up guns that are good candidates including Kahr Arms which I respect.  One concern I have with this list is that it contains a few gun brands that I've had problems with; problems like frequent feed jams (Automatics) and cracked frames.  I'm a big fan of stainless steel guns so they don't rust up when stored for years without being cleaned and oiled.  I also highly recommend that you go to the shooting range to rent and shoot the gun of choice to be sure you like it, BEFORE buying it. This will help avoid buyer regret later on. 

If you get an Automatic handgun, I recommend having at least 4 magazines; two that are kept loaded and two spares that are "resting" the magazine spring.  Then each time you go shooting, rotate your active magazines with your spares so the springs do not get worn out. If you choose a Revolver, I suggest four speed loaders but you can keep them all fully loaded at all times since there is no spring to wear out.

In summary, the selection of a personal carry handgun should consider a range of properties and select the best combination for you.  The graphic below explains the relationship fairly well.

I would be anxious to hear any suggestions or considerations that have been missed, so please post any comments or questions you may have.

For more information see:
BLOG TABLE OF CONTENTS
The right amount of Ammo 
Terrorist Attack - Best Preparations 
Gun Free Zone Facts