# OMG, call 911 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 15, 2010, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-call-911/525133 "2010-01-15T22:45:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-call-911/525133/21 "2010-01-16T02:27:26Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > I’m as annoyed as anyone by all security theater and over-reaction we have had to put up with over the past few years, but if we’re going to be paranoid about shit like this, then Texas shouldn’t get a pass just because more people happen to make a habit of walking around with rifles. Paranoid about hunters walking around in the woods, with guns, during hunting season? You need meds. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-call-911/525133/22 "2010-01-16T02:27:46Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > I’m as annoyed as anyone by all security theater and over-reaction we have had to put up with over the past few years, but if we’re going to be paranoid about shit like this, then Texas shouldn’t get a pass just because more people happen to make a habit of walking around with rifles. This wasn’t the TSA or other government agency enforcing rules. It was one guy that apparently “ain’t from round here” making a silly, and kinda funny, mistake. ETA: And the hunters were probably carrying shotguns, not rifles. Ya generally don’t hunt geese with rifles. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-call-911/525133/23 "2010-01-16T02:32:45Z")
If two guys walking in a field with shotguns poses a huge security risk at that property, terrorists or not, we have bigger things to worry about than calling the cops. ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-call-911/525133/24 "2010-01-16T02:35:24Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > But why shouldn’t it cause suspicion in Texas? I mean, to play devil’s advocate for a moment, aren’t we constantly told that the terrorists are smart, and will do the best they can to blend in, to look like they belong? > > Thousands of people carried shampoo or bottled water onto planes every day before 9/11, and yet the TSA decided that this harmless activity needed to be stopped in the interests of safety. Similarly, thousands of hunters go out to their blinds every year, but when it happens near a nuclear weapons facility, isn’t it a bit better to be safe than sorry? > > I’m as annoyed as anyone by all security theater and over-reaction we have had to put up with over the past few years, but if we’re going to be paranoid about shit like this, then Texas shouldn’t get a pass just because more people happen to make a habit of walking around with rifles. Do you really think that if it had been an attack of some sorts, the terrorist (or perps) would be seen by anyone unloading their gear out of the car along a public road in broad daylight? Jebus… ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-call-911/525133/25 "2010-01-16T02:39:04Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > Paranoid about hunters walking around in the woods, with guns, during hunting season? > > You need meds. Near a nuclear facility. Forgot that bit, did you? I’m not arguing that the cops necessarily needed to be called. I wouldn’t have called them myself. But i’m not going to go too crazy about the guy who did. > [@Oakminster](#): > > This wasn’t the TSA or other government agency enforcing rules. It was one guy that apparently “ain’t from round here” making a silly, and kinda funny, mistake. > > ETA: And the hunters were probably carrying shotguns, not rifles. Ya generally don’t hunt geese with rifles. BFD. I didn’t notice, or care, what they were hunting. I never suggested that it was the TSA; i was simply noting that what this guy did fell well within the levels of suspicion that our own government has been foisting on us for the last 8 years, most of that time under the authority of a stupid fucking jackass from the very same state where this occurred. This time, the people under suspicion happened to be two guys from Texas, instead of some immigrant or some family with the wrong color skin or an Arab name. I can’t get any more worked up about it than about all the other ridiculous security theater we’ve been subjected to. ---
**Author:** ![ILovCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e99b99/32.png) [@ILovCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ILovCoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-call-911/525133/26 "2010-01-16T02:40:16Z")
You know, to city-slickers and wimmen-folk a shotgun and rifle are the same blessed thing—a firearm. Intellectually I know one fires shot and the other rounds, but I would be hard put to identiify either being carried by someone else. My husband, on the the other hand, would be able to give make, model, calibre, shot/round weight and various other facts after a quick glance. I make him watch episodes of JAG to point out when they substitute guns, planes, armored personnel carriers with actual tanks with completely different makes and models than what was in the scene earlier or even in the script to me. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-call-911/525133/27 "2010-01-16T02:41:55Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > But why shouldn’t it cause suspicion in Texas? I mean, to play devil’s advocate for a moment, aren’t we constantly told that the terrorists are smart, and will do the best they can to blend in, to look like they belong? Oh for the love of dry gin, you are a Yankee. Look, I was born and raised in Los Angeles (city proper, not the burbs), and if I saw some guys with guns walking around in LA, it would cause alarm. There is no such thing as “hunting season” in Los Angeles. I now, in all of my liberal, west-coast, gun-control glory, live in Minnesota. People shoot animals here, and that’s just how it is. They don’t walk around brandishing shotguns in the middle of downtown St. Paul, but two guys in camo out in the sticks exiting their pickups with shot guns during hunting season is just what we call a part of life here. Are you seriously suggesting people call the authorities every time they see a gun, regardless of the circumstances, because terrorists may be disguising themselves as hunters? > [@](#): > > Similarly, thousands of hunters go out to their blinds every year, but when it happens near a nuclear weapons facility, isn’t it a bit better to be safe than sorry? Good gods, it was two miles away. Edit: In other words, what **ExTank** said. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-call-911/525133/28 "2010-01-16T02:47:01Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > BFD. I didn’t notice, or care, what they were hunting. You also don’t seem to care that these guys were doing something perfectly ordinary, at a time and in a place where such activities are to be reasonably expected. When somebody tries to blow up an airplane with a goose decoy, you might have a reasonable analogy. I can only assume it’s the fact that the guys had guns that you think justifies “suspicion”, and that’s unfortunate. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-call-911/525133/29 "2010-01-16T02:52:59Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Oh for the love of dry gin, you are a Yankee. No, i’m not. I’m not even American, although i live here. I also used guns periodically during my youth. I’ve hunted with rifles and shotguns, killing kangaroos, rabbits, foxes, and birds. I’m well aware of the prevalence of guns, and the uses they have, for people in rural areas. My point here, for those who seem to be missing it by a country mile (thought **Oakminster** was a bit smarter than this, but i’ve been wrong before) is simply that the call this guy made was no more silly than half the silly security stuff that has been part of American life for the better part of the last decade. As i said, i wouldn’t have done anything in the same situation; i’m just not going all “OMG” about it, given how closely it resembles so many other false alarms and cases of excessive caution. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-call-911/525133/30 "2010-01-16T02:55:40Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Near a nuclear facility. Forgot that bit, did you? Hardly. I work in and around low-to-middlin’-to-high security industrial facilities all the time in the course of my work. One of them is staffed with security guards who look like they’d rather shoot you as look at you. Not dime-a-dozen rent-a-jokes; guys with crew cuts, dead eyes, and resumes with words like U.S. Navy SEALS, or U.S. Marine Corps Force Recon, or U.S. Army Delta Force, in them. And here’s the thing about facilities with dangerous materials in them: they put up really big fences all around them, often at a considerable distance from the actual facility that has the dangerous stuff. Now if it’s _really_ dangerous stuff, with NATIONAL SECURITY: TOP SECRET written all over it, those fences are bigger, meaner, and further away from the facility (in military parlance, they are said to have a wider “kill zone;” and yes, that’s exactly what it’s used for), backed up by people with absolutely ZERO sense of humor, _really_ scary guns, and with the training and authorization to use them. So a couple of Bubbas in woodland camo and Blaze orange wandering the woods 2 miles away from a nuclear facility (either 2 miles from the fence line or 2 miles from the actual facility makes little difference) aren’t enough to make the kind of security a nuclear facility has even twitch. I once again refer you back to **Oakminster** when he said this: > [@](#): > > Only a yankee, a city boy, or an anti-gun wingnut would call something like this in to the cops. ETA: In other words, what **MeanOldLady** said! ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-call-911/525133/31 "2010-01-16T03:01:37Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > My point here, for those who seem to be missing it by a country mile (thought **Oakminster** was a bit smarter than this, but i’ve been wrong before) is simply that the call this guy made was no more silly than half the silly security stuff that has been part of American life for the better part of the last decade. As i said, i wouldn’t have done anything in the same situation; i’m just not going all “OMG” about it, given how closely it resembles so many other false alarms and cases of excessive caution. Only guy missing anything by a country mile (actually 2 miles) is you. How many people do you see getting cavity searched for shampoo/shoelace/underwear bombs while standing in a hotel room 2 miles away from an airport? Not very many, I hope, because people often get dressed in hotel rooms within 2 miles of airports. There’s nothing there to justify calling the cops, just like there is no reason to call the cops on goose hunters doing what goose hunters do in a goose hunting area 2 miles away from a nuclear plant. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-call-911/525133/32 "2010-01-16T03:13:00Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > No, i’m not. I’m not even American, although i live here. I also used guns periodically during my youth. Yankeeness confirmed. I remember the first time I was called a Yankee (by my Costa Rican cousins for exhibiting big-city cluelessness), my response was, “I’m not a Yankee. I’m from California.” They laughed even more. > [@](#): > > My point here, for those who seem to be missing it by a country mile (thought **Oakminster** was a bit smarter than this, but i’ve been wrong before) is simply that the call this guy made was no more silly than half the silly security stuff that has been part of American life for the better part of the last decade. Yes, calling the cops on people hunting during hunting season is just as dumb (perhaps dumber) as strip-searching people for attempting to bring more than 3 oz of shower gel on an airplane. > [@ExTank](#): > > ETA: In other words, what **MeanOldLady** said! We should date. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-call-911/525133/33 "2010-01-16T03:14:02Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > So a couple of Bubbas in woodland camo and Blaze orange wandering the woods 2 miles away from a nuclear facility (either 2 miles from the fence line or 2 miles from the actual facility makes little difference) aren’t enough to make the kind of security a nuclear facility has even twitch. That’s odd. I thought this thread was here because the nuclear facility’s security did twitch. What is it about Texas cops? Is it really that hard for them to put down the doughnut, wipe the powdered sugar on their shirt, and respond to a “report of two bubbas with guns wandering around?” Those poor babies, what else did they have to do? God, you’d think the National Guard got called out. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-call-911/525133/34 "2010-01-16T03:17:11Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > What is it about Texas cops? Is it really that hard for them to put down the doughnut, wipe the powdered sugar on their shirt, and respond to a “report of two bubbas with guns wandering around?” Those poor babies, what else did they have to do? God, you’d think the National Guard got called out. :rolleyes: The point is that it was silly for someone to report this non-incident in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-call-911/525133/35 "2010-01-16T03:24:36Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > That’s odd. I thought this thread was here because the nuclear facility’s security did twitch. Yeah, it’s sort of amusing that everyone is focused on the guy who made the call. Where is all the outrage over the fact that the site itself was placed on lockdown? After all, if the alleged security threat was so benign or non-existent (and i agree that it was), then why does the plant need to be locked down at all? Why can’t someone in authority say, in effect, exactly what some people in this thread have been saying, _viz_, “Hey, a couple of guys hunting geese two miles from the plant is an everyday occurrence during hunting season. No need to take precautions”? If you (meaning the people who have been ridiculing the initial caller) were in charge of security at the plant, and you got a report of two guys in camouflage outfits unloading guns from a truck two miles from your facility, would initiate a lockdown? ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-call-911/525133/36 "2010-01-16T03:32:33Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > :rolleyes: > > The point is that it was silly for someone to report this non-incident in the first place. Well, if I ever decide to become a terrorist and blow something up in Texas, now I know how easy it will be. I’ll just throw on some cammies, load myself up with a backpack nuke and some shotguns, and I can walk around with immunity! Yeeeee, haaaaaaa! ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-call-911/525133/37 "2010-01-16T03:34:29Z")
Err, I reckon the plant was closed down _because_ someone reported armed men (which were hunters during hunting season, located two miles away fer chrissakes!) near the plant. Considering the linked article is only a few sentences long, and I’m not going to research the story because I don’t feel like it, I suppose I could be missing something. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-call-911/525133/38 "2010-01-16T03:38:25Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > If you (meaning the people who have been ridiculing the initial caller) were in charge of security at the plant, and you got a report of two guys in camouflage outfits unloading guns from a truck two miles from your facility, would initiate a lockdown? Strongly suspect those guys have no discretion in the matter. There’s probably a procedures manual that they have to follow for any report. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-call-911/525133/39 "2010-01-16T03:40:20Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Well, if I ever decide to become a terrorist and blow something up in Texas, now I know how easy it will be. I’ll just throw on some cammies, load myself up with a backpack nuke and some shotguns, and I can walk around with immunity! Yeeeee, haaaaaaa! Dude, stop bullshitting. So what should hunters do? Carry around some sort of “I am an Official Hunter Non-Terrorist” card? People fucking hunt, big fucking deal. We’re not talking about people waving guns around in the post office. We’re talking about people going hunting, who throw on their hunting gear, load up their trucks, then go to the woods in order to hunt. What the hell do you want these people do every time they go hunting? Prove on every occasion that they’re hunters? ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-call-911/525133/40 "2010-01-16T03:44:55Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Dude, stop bullshitting. So what should hunters do? Carry around some sort of “I am an Official Hunter Non-Terrorist” card? People fucking hunt, big fucking deal. We’re not talking about people waving guns around in the post office. We’re talking about people going hunting, who throw on their hunting gear, load up their trucks, then go to the woods in their hunting gear in order to hunt. What the hell do you want these people do every time they go hunting? Prove on every occasion that they’re hunters? If Fish & Wildlife or somebody shows up you have to prove you’re a licensed hunter anyway (maybe not in TX, who knows?), so what’s the big deal? “Haaay y’aaall! Whatchy’all doing?” “Huntin’.” “Alrighty then thar boys, y’all git to it. Have a nice day!” Ooh, we’ve running a gestapo state here or something! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-call-911/525133.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omg-call-911/525133.md?page=3)