Yesterday I received a text message from a friend:
There is a slight chance that someone may try to take out a contract on me. What precautions would you take?
They are as good or better than I am with a handgun. They are at least moderately skilled with rifles. They are middle aged and of middle class means living in a rural area.
Any suggestions?
Well, that’s not giving a ton of info. It’s very hard to prepare for something that’s so vague. A neighbor dispute? Impending divorce? Bad business deal?
Call him up and get specifics.
If it is a pro he is will probably be wacked. But if not, things like vary routine, put sensors on approach avenues, and unless it is a neighbor dispute tell the neighbors to be on the lookout for unusually people and vehicles could all help. Hard to vary routine in a rural area as there are not that many options for stores and such. But it is easier to spot something out of place.
I would also keep a rifle close as much as possible. No matter how good he is with a handgun, he is undoubtedly better with a rifle at 100 yds.
Soft body armor in addition to previous comments.
I suppose “You have to survive until the cops arrive” is taken as a given.
Next: Documentation, documentation, documentation. Whatever evidence there is needs to be logged with the police, even if the police or the prosecutor aren’t inclined do anything. It’s also protection from all sorts of exclamations of “What do you need to [FILL IN BLANK] for?” with “I have evidence logged with the court that someone is contracting others to kill me or assist in killing me.” Keep certified copies of all of it and know what new media you’ll drop it with if necessary.
Go look up the kind of force protection training the military gives its troops overseas. A lot of it is basic: Do a walk-around of your car every time; check underneath. Vary your route. Do your grocery shopping at different locations. If you think you’re being followed, do some basic counter-actions to verify. If you’re not in the habit of carrying a pocket knife you can open with one hand, get in the habit. Don’t be in the habit of being sitting or lying still somewhere for long periods or time with a long sight-line off the property. If drones start flying over you, get under cover. You might need to upgrade and reinforce your exterior doors and get some protection over ground-floor windows large enough to admit an adult. If you don’t have a security system, get one, and get the integrated smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, too.
Hide with a new identity.
They are not willing to go that far.
Excellent book from a BTDT “How To Be Your Own Bodyguard: Self Defense for men & women from a lifetime of protecting clients in hostile environments.”, author Nick Hughes.
Start with a robust counter surveillance program.
Break up routines as much as possible.
If you understand the WHY and WHO it will make everything easier to defend.
My suggestion would be, don’t get caught out alone, travel in a group of as many people as feasible. Also, install trail cams around the perimeter of the property, at strategic locations on the property, and security cameras with a phone app for remote viewing. monitor any comings & goings carefully. Don’t enter alone especially if the system is down. This could potentially be supplemented with tripwires (low-tech but often effective) rigged to some kind of alert system. Bells, phone app, anything in between. And for the love of all that is holy don’t answer the door for ANYONE. Add as much randomness to your comings & goings as possible. — already covered — but also if you can have 2-3 friends pop by randomly at any/all hours for a while that will also help. Random witnesses introduce all kinds of potential problems. If you’re friends with your next-door neighbors on all sides, that’s even better — check up on each other.
Open carry might give a hint to a potential attacker that this is a hard target.
Go ahead and dig the hole and prepare camouflage for it. That minimizes the amount of time you spend with the body discoverable.
LOL
Don’t forget to keep some trays of protected species of flora handy, ready to plant in nicely turned loose earth.
Good call, and I would add. Endanger plant species. That way they can’t dig them up.
Depends on who wants you dead. Is that someone going to spend a lot of money on you?
Will it be a professional or a banger hit?
If their willing to spend a lot, your in big trouble. If not, look for the close in whack job.
Carry a bigger gun. Move up from your everyday XDS, to your Glock 34. Swap out your folder knife for a fixed blade.
Check your blind spots wherever you find yourself.
Look for the long range alleys, gaps between brush and trees where someone might hide to take a longer range shot at you.
Like not getting kicked by a horse. You can walk way around the back of him. Out of range.
Or you can move real quick up close to his ass so he doesn’t have a chance to kick you.
And never turn off your car till the coast is as clear as you can see it.
Moving targets are always the hardest to hit.
Train your wife to be looking in the opposite direction you are. You pull up to a gas pump, you get out on your side, she does the same on her side. Your pumping gas, she’s got a 180 view on your six.
As Gab Suarez used to teach. Get off the X. Even professionals have a hard time hitting moving targets. Don’t stand and shoot, (you’re not at the range), move and shoot.
And most of all is mindset.
You’re not going to get in a fight, your already in one.
We all get to die, so it’s all about who gets to live. And your willingness to die fighting if necessary.
Being a hard target should be a lifestyle. Only the paranoid survive.
All the best to him.
It sounds like a lot of the basics are covered already. Good with a pistol and rifle and live in an area likely to have decent sight lines (depending on what is meant by “rural”).
As another commenter said, document everything and notify the authorities if that’s an option. And unless it’s a neighbor dispute, and if he/she is on good terms with the neighbors, ask them to help keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. No reason to go into specifics, just a simple, “I’m having a nasty conflict with someone and it’s possible they might come out here with bad intentions, could you let me know if you notice anything out of place?”
In a similar vein, install or upgrade outdoor surveillance systems. He/she may already have a doorbell camera, and that’s a decent start. Now add other cameras, as low-profile as possible, and placed to take the best advantage of those long rural sight lines.
Forewarned is forearmed. Good luck.
I’m surprised nobody has suggested the obvious. It depends on the jurisdiction, of course, but in my semi-rural area I would first go to the cops. We have a great county Sheriff, as are most of the Sheriff’s of surrounding counties, and they would jump on this immediately. Of course, if I lived in Chicago or San Francisco or some other blue area, I wouldn’t bother.
The bottom line, though, is that there’s not a lot one can do to stop someone who is bound an determined to kill you other than never go out or get to them first. There’s not a lot that will stop a determined man with a .308 at 100 yards other than the cops or another determined man with a .308 at 100 yards.
Maybe that’s who wants to do him in.
No. It is someone in prison who probably has contacts who would carry out the hit.
OK
But the (implied) “be EXTREMELY careful who you trust” point still stands.
Agreed.
Is your friend a writer?
For an interesting twist: sometimes the best defense is a good offense!
But I wouldn’t suggest that otherwise.
Finally.
I was waiting for someone to state the obvious solution, and Anon at 0120 did.
As to why the previous 17 commenters so steadfastly avoided it, I don’t know but, in some engineering circles the phrase “doing the wrong thing better and faster is not an advantage” pops up with some frequency.
All the comments assume that the hit will be with a gun. Why not a bomb or a truck or poison? Tunnel vision.
I just read the details of Kim Jong-nam’s assassination, so was going to suggest keeping atropine on hand, but that didn’t seem to work out for him. Hopefully the likelihood of anyone facing a state-sponsored assassin is low.
Sadly, if someone wants to get to you bad enough it’s almost impossible to stop them. Plenty of things already mentioned to lessen the chance of success but a dedicated effort will be hard to stop…especially if the person is willing be caught after they succeed. Much harder to “hit” someone and not leave behind evidence that leads to arrest.
Keep your curtains closed as much as possible. Keep interior lights off as much as possible. Didn’t silhouette yourself in windows. Do not open any packages or letters from any source unless you are expecting them. If you do get a suspicious package call the police.
Tell him to prepare to die. There really is not much he can do since he cannot implement the kind of universal security the SS can provide and we have seen how lame they are. We are a country now stuffed with people who will snuff out a life for 35 cents.
What the rest propose are all good but about as effective against a determined killer as you’d expect. If the killer was one of us there would be little to no hope. It’s not that we’re that good, it’s just that smart is a major weapon system not found in most of your street killers.