10 September 2015

What caliber for sniper?

The local Phoenix area seems to be under some sort of attack.   Eleven cars have been hit in the past 11 days.   How can one protect themselves?

No one reports hearing any gun shots. Not surprising when the normal freeway din is enough to drown out most gun shots.  Air Guns are another possibility.

What can we do to protect ourselves?  Unfortunately not much.  Carrying a gun is not a magic talisman to ward off evil.  A gun is only useful when the threat is detected in time.  And that's kind of the point of a sniper - the bullet arrives before anything else, even the sound of the shot.

So far they don't have a clue as to whether the shooter is in a car, or on the side of the road.

Some are avoiding the particular section of I-10  (Most incidents are on I-10 west of downtown "the Avenues"*)  But scattered incidents have occurred across the metro area.

For the most parts, odds are good any given trip through the area will be safely completed.  This isn't the Middle East so I won't be canceling any trips through the area, nor cease using the freeways in general.

I am tempted however to add a couple car cameras to the SandCastle rides.  These days car-cams are inexpensive.  I have one in the air conditioner that takes me around in the summer, and the SandCastle queen has one in her chariot.  It may be time to add one pointing at Cardinal Points of the Compass!  Cameras don't stop incoming fire, and may not even catch any usable video.  But if there is an attack, this is the best bet we have.

True story - I was headed up to our offsite meeting location in moderate traffic.  General flow doing 60-70mph.  Suddenly three cars are weaving in and out of traffic trying to out do each other.  Another mile or two up the road traffic slows.  We come upon a couple spun out cars.  One sideways to flow and one spun 180.   No flashing lights, just bewildered eyes.  It occurred to me later I might have video evidence,  But alas by then the loop had been written over.  (my SD cards are only 8GB).  Wish I'd realized the potential at the time.

Note, this is all cameras are good for - bring the bad guys to justice.  They do nothing to stop the attack in the first place.  But if it can
solve the riddle bring the criminal(s) to justice, bring it on!

Gett'n all geared up and tacticool, is probably not the best answer.   IMHO this is a time to step back and let the professionals handle it.  I wouldn't even OC in the vicinity.  Anyone with a weapon in the area is likely to be questioned.

* Phoenix is laid out in a nice grid pattern with the Avenues on the west side and Streets on the East.  Just hearing an address immediately splits the location in half.