Trucks!

11 May 17

Trucks!

Of all exportable terrorist attack methods, using hijacked trucks to plow into groups of pedestrians is among the most effective and easiest to put together.

There is no lack of “recent converts to Islam” who can be recruited to carry-out one of these attacks, and one needn’t look very far to find an eligible truck! And, murdering/maiming dense concentrations of hapless, unsuspecting pedestrians with a speeding truck requires no extraordinary marksmanship!

We saw this tactic used to great effect in Nice, France in July of 2106, and in Stockholm, Sweden in April of this year.

Heavy trucks can be said to be impervious to most small-arms fire, so there is little an armed citizen can do except stay alert, see the threat developing in time to take action, and then try to get out of the way. I might add: stay away from crowds in general!

Stopping a speeding truck quickly is nearly impossible (absent a heavy, anti-tank missile). One can be stopped slowly, via spike-sticks, but so long as the truck stays on pavement, it can still move with surprising speed and even some control, with all tires flat!

Despite preposterous rubbish routinely depicted by Hollywood, shooting at moving trucks with pistols and patrol rifles is unlikely to have any discernable effect on the vehicle. And, significant penetration through doors and into the cab portion of the vehicle, with enough force to cause significant injury to the driver, is also unlikely.

Small-arms fire into the truck’s radiator may cause the engine to eventually overheat and seize, but that will take some time.

The truck’s driver can be shot through the windshield and side windows, but the dilemma is to get someone high enough to do it. Some brave hero can jump onto the running board and then shoot the driver at point-blank range, but that is not a task for which most, including me, will volunteer!

And, shooting the driver, evil soul that he may be, may solve one problem, but simultaneously manufacture another:

With the driver suddenly dead/disabled, the speeding truck now becomes an “unguided missile.” The truck may slow and stop, but it might not, so a “happy ending” may still elude us!

As noted, your best individual defense is continuing alertness and life-style adjustments that reduce risk without making life a complete bore. Personal risk can never be eliminated, but it can be logically “managed.” Personal honesty is your best friend. “Emotional reasoning” (AKA: self-deception) is a menace!

To be sure, speeding hijacked trucks are not the only toxic threat about which we need be concerned. Armed criminals, be they gangs or individuals, Islamic terrorists or “conventional” armed-robbery suspects, street-gang members, illegal-alien VCAs, et al all represent pernicious threats, particularly as the “de-policing” of “sanctuary cities” (all ruled by liberal Democrats) continues unabated.

Again, your life may not be important to terrorists, nor to politicians, so it had better be important to you. Never depend upon “divine protection.”

Depend on yourself!

/John