History channel .... " GANGLAND "

[.45mac.40]

No ... Not just because, I spent 3 weeks, April of 1992' at tha' L A riots ... doesn't make me paranoid ...

1SG
Co C 1/185th Armor
40th Mech. ..

But ... watching this show, has re-newed my sense of self defense. and anyone around me !
Especially tha' segment about Texas and tha' Texan corridor ( I-35) !!

Carry big enough gun...
Carry back up ammo (at least one mag. full)
Try and pay more attention...'bout my surroundings and what is going on, around me.
More range time.
More. related training ((ref. to CHL, CCW. // even if it's watching Youtube))
Scary world out there !

Let's be safe.

Mac

[5thGenTexan]

Caught a couple of those episodes myself, some of those boys are just plain crazy and don't care if they die now or later. The good thing is most of them think they can just pull the trigger and you magically accomplish your goal the bad thing is the seem to run in packs and if you cut loose with a couple of modified AR's or a handfull of fully charged semi's and the odds are they will hit someone at some point.

Seems like Dame Janet should classify the gangs as domestic terrorists but it would possibly alienate some of her boss' core constituancy.

[davidtx]

Can you summarize what the episode on the Texas Corridor had to say?

-davidtx

[.45mac.40]

davidtx.... !
Aired this morning (Dish Network... channel #120 )
Tha' show was about Laredo and Nuevo Laredo...The killings, the big drug and crime push to own I-35 ... which goes North into the USA (Texas) and then branches out East, West and further North...
As we all know, they wouldn't run this crap here....IF, some of the people on this side of tha' border didn't need it ?!
Reality check ... AGAIN ....for me !

Mac

[Tireshred]

I saw the one on the Houstones, aka Tango Blast, one of my coworkers sons had a barfight with them, he hurt one of them pretty bad (he's an athlete and very much in shape) and they put a hit on him, the police told him to get his kid (not really a kid, over 21 and should know better) out of town now. He moved him to a different city and rented an apartment in a cousins name, he's still there and this was a year ago. I didn't know the Astro-like star tattoo is a Tango Blast thing, but now I do and it's amazing how many I see at restaraunts and generally around town. I always carry extra ammo, Reginald Denny I'm not.

[joe817]

I've watched a few episodes and watching them is a very sobering experience. Death has no meaning for people in a gang, as it's a way of life. Life is so cheap to them.

And that's one of the primary reasons I have a CHL.....and carry in the house.

[The Annoyed Man]

No ... Not just because, I spent 3 weeks, April of 1992' at tha' L A riots ... doesn't make me paranoid ...

Dude, you were there in the Guard, right?

I was there as a civilian, with no mandate, no authority, and darn little protection. I worked in downtown L.A., and I watched the hundreds (thousands? I don't know... it was a LOT) of trouble-makers streaming across the First St. bridge from the Aliso Village projects, past my work building, heading for various buildings that got trashed in downtown during the first night. I was unarmed, and it was not a good feeling. It seemed like all of L.A. was blanketed in smoke from all the fires. I beat feet home as soon as I could. The next day I started carrying a .45 to work in my car - totally illegally - and kept it in my desk drawer during the day. It was on the 2nd day of rioting that I was headed to the corner restaurant to buy lunch, and I walked around the corner and right into the rear guard of an Army patrol, the last guy walking backward carrying an M16. I smiled at him and stopped in my tracks and waited for them to move on.

And it wasn't just L.A. Angry crowds burned down a few small businesses in Pasadena too, and in other cities near L.A. as well. It was ugly.

One of my good friends at work, Ernest Pajaud, lived a couple of blocks from where Reginald Denny was dragged out his truck. A bunch of us were all watching this going on on somebody's portable TV. Ernest and I went into Ernest's office where he called his wife and told her to load the AK47 and kill anybody who came through the door without her knowing who they were. Then he left and went home to protect his family. Sadly, we lost Ernest to cancer a couple of years later, but he was then and remains today one of my all time favorite friends. He was a 6'9" 275 lb black man with one of the warmest voices you could ever hope to hear. A profound Christian, gifted photographer, and a man with enormous personal gravitas and an infectious smile, he was regarded in his neighborhood as one of the "elders" who seemed to have the respect of everyone from the most hardened gang-bangers to the old saints and the young children. He was also one of the lone voices for the 2nd Amendment where I worked, which was a newspaper publisher. I still miss him today.

[Abraham]

I watched a bit of "Gangland" once and in it's own way seemed to lend a certain questionable credibility to thugs.

So, I don't watch it.

Watching shows about sociopaths and psychopaths can be interesting, even illuminating if presented from the perspective that these people are not admirable. They're criminals, often violent criminals.

Yes, they should be studied. Knowing how to avoid criminal gang types, understanding their strategies for preying on the law abiding, etc. is time well spent.

Maybe the brief amount of time I spent watching "Gangland" was not typical, but any show that even briefly seems to glorify these criminals is off putting to me.

[.45mac.40]

The Annoyed Man........!

SOOOOOooooooo .... we kissed some of tha' same ground ??!?? ((Pico & Wilhsire ... etc. Compton etc.))
Good to know of you and your friend ... scary times, So long ago !

Yep, ... Was the 1st Sergeant (1SG) of the unit outta' Indio... Co. C 1/185th Armor (20 miles E/O Palm Springs. )
We finally got the order to move....what a mess!
Rode buses up to Monrovia and then staged at the Arcadia armory.
No plans for food or equipment ...Small unit commanders came up with, on tha' spot support .. (( Breakfast ? Thanks McDonald ... for the 160 Egg McMuffins ...))
No riot gear/equipment ... because afew years earlier, Brass w/ tha' California Army National Guard, had sent it up to Oregon. for their use in riot training.
I'll have to tell ya' about the "Barney Fife" bullet, we were issued and the document we had to acknowledge and sign.
Carrying a copy, left top pocket ....
We finally staged at the Colliseum' ...even got Yelled at ... by tha' Grounds keeper, to stay off the turf !!
Now....ya' know.... tha' rest of the story.

General Delk has a book out, about his endeavors with tha' California Army National Guard
40th Mech. Div. during the 92 LA Riots ...

Mac .45 >>>>>>