Posted: 10/2/2008 10:22:52 AM EDT
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I imagine this question comes up often, but I did a quick search and didn't find any recent threads. What do you guys think about confiscation of food/water/supplies by the authorities? I imagine if things got quite bad that the authorities would come by to confiscate your supplies and redistribute it for the "common good". Whether it be to quell hungry rioters or simply feed their own families. Are you really going to be able to say "whoa there" to 20 county deputies armed with ARs or the National Guard? |
Not to nitpick, but I have yet to have anyone tell me they personally saw anyone but LEOs conducting confiscations in New Orleans or anywhere else. Neither the Guard nor the Active Duty military did that- it was civil servants, purely. If someone has firsthand evidence to the contrary, I'd be interested. I mention that since neither I nor anyone under my command will be taking things from private citizens without their permission. And those who do, either in uniform or with a tin badge, are looters, pure and simple. A looter with the "force of law" is just a looter working for a bad government, and not being true to his oath. |
+1 
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| And just what makes you think that they are just going to pick only your place out of the thousands of homes in your state? Won't happen. If it's that bad, you honestly think that they will send 20 guardsmen to your place? They'll be too busy just to pick on you. |
Well the scenario I am picturing in my mind is a big truck driving down my street with 20 LEOs (or whoever) searching each and every house for canned goods and fuel. I can seriously imagine this happening and it makes me wonder about dropping $$$ and time on extensive long term supplies. There's no easy way to hide or disguise 55ga. barrels in the suburbs. |
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I know that a law was passed (I think Ferderal) after Katrenia that forbid the confication of firearms during a disaster. Then in one of the Hurricane Ike threads I saw someone say a new law was passed that would let LEO's "take" stuff from people if it could help them. Is this true? Also, during a disaster do LEO's need a warrent to come into your house? Jeremy |
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Okay, I am *sure* as hell not TJ but here's my "story time". About 4 years ago, my city offered what they were calling "CERT Lite training". I signed up, expecting some actual hands-on training but what it turned into was a "keep a 3-day kit and a blanket in your car"/"here's how you turn off a gas main"/"here's how to use a fire extinguisher" lecture series. Better than nothing but worth every dime you paid (hint: it was free). However, the very first night, one of the suggestions from the fire and police chiefs was to get to know your neighbors and make a list of who has what skills or gear that could be used to help the community in an emergency. Again, it was meant in a neighborly, fairly innocent way but it freaked me out and they really stressed it. They basically taught a room full of people to identify who has gear and supplies (they expressly said "see who's a camper who might keep extra sleeping bags or food, see who has an RV or generator...") and, in the event of an emergency, to assume they can expect and/or commandeer such things "for the greater good". So. I don't see any soulless ANG commander seizing Costco's database to see who buys a lot and often. But there are some people who are either on a powertrip or simply misguided or "mistrained" who believe they can just take "extra" for the betterment of society. When you choose to help others, it's called altruism. When you are forced to help others, it's extortion on a good day and slavery on a bad one. Consider this when opening your yap. |
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+1 on the keeping your mouth shut. But make sure your husband/wife/kids/parents/etc. do the same. I can also say that I can guarantee no one is getting into my home to search without a fight. Don't care who it is. I'll open the door with the security bar engaged and let them know we are fine and to move along post haste. |
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The sad reality is this. in the situation that you describe, if the LEO's, or the governer was to simply communicate to the people "Hey, its a tough time for everyone, please check on your neighbors and share food with them if you have it", would get MUCH more done that any kind of police action to take stuff. What they would actually do tho, is take everything then try to inventory and divide it and meter it back to the people. First they'd take everything, then they would get new orders from on high, and they your food would rot in a warehouse along with everyone else's and then you will be a refugee.. thats would be the FEMA way. |
Perfect! Seriously? Hide your shit. Don't talk to anyone about it, and tell SO's and kids to do the same. If it comes down to LEO's searching door to door, we're all phucked anyways. |
i think if it gets this bad: you'll have very few leo's reporting for work - they'll be at home protecting their families; there will be so many other problems (e.g., looting, violence, etc.) that the existing LEOs will be fairly well preoccupied; you're not going to be broadcasting that you have preps. overall OPSEC is key. there are many things you can do to downplay your preps. a 55 gallon drum can be easily buried, but yet still accessible. other preps (e.g., ammos, rifles) can be buried on public land and later retrieved. load up your BOL w/ minimal preps at your residence. rent a storage unit and fill it w/ your preps, but be prepared to move the stuff to a secure location quickly when TSHTF. |
| Well good point here. In the worst case SHTF. Do you really thing there will be LAW AND ORDER. Nope. Those with the biggest and most guns win period. Now I am talking about the big one here. Tell no one what you have. Hide everything. Dont trust your friends or sorry to say this your family. You have to take care of #1 first and your direct family. Everyone else is on their own. And trust me on this. Your best friend Bob might be the first one to shot you when your not looking. |
I'd try to run the 'government looters' off by giving them some of my pantry, personally. Give them some of what little you have. Demonstrate that you have very little. Basically, mislead the heck out of them, and let them take a pack of 'cup o' noodles' and 3 cans of soup. You want to avoid the argument that you can't win. You can't act like the well-prepared person who knows his rights, because typically, when TSHTF, 'they' don't care. 'They' do what they think they should, and that's that. In this case, it's better to act like a sheep. Yeah, you'll lose something, but you want to avoid the search that will find out that you have much more for them to take. It's not really a problem for me, anyways, my pantry isn't big enough to store most of the long-term supplies anyway. Those are in other areas. If I can keep them away from that, I'll be OK. I want to look like the average-joe homeowner who's just struggling though like everyone else, not Super-Prep Dude. |
Interesting thought. So you think if you give them some food, they won't ask and/or search for anything else? Do you think if you let them see your kitchen, they won't ask to see your back storage room? I'm of the mind that I would be better off not opening the door and telling them to produce a warrant or go away through the door. As much as I'd like to think that we would never see this scenario happen, I also thought that we'd never see LEOs go door-to-door confiscating privately owned firearms. Maybe I need to think of a better way to disguise my preps. Hard to do when you are storing water for several weeks, food for a year, and various other preps. 
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+1 and +1 This is exactly why the militarization of the civilian police in our Country is such a scary thought. |
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Aside from this forum, I doubt anyone even knows that I think about this stuff. A few folks have had conversations with me regarding emergency preparedness, but those were mostly professional conversations with like minded individuals. (who have their own supplies) I dont worry about it. If society has degraded to the point where the governemnt is seizing water and grains from the citizenry, its time to shoot first. |
I like that, along with a biohazard sign should do the trick. |
