Election plans

Without getting political, what are your preparations for any demonstrations before-during-after the election?

As for myself, I an taking down my American flag and Gadsden flag, and going grey. I don't expect any major demonstrations in my little town, but there could be minor vandalism.

I'm planning to vote! That is all.

Already voted. Also notified that my ballot has been received, checked, nd will be counted.

Will watch returns Nov 3.

I will probably try to get in and vote early, too.

Plans for demonstrations? Stay far away from them. Go nowhere near mobs. Everyone has an opinion, nobody cares what mine is, so no need to demonstrate.

But I am preparing for them to come to me, even if I currently think that is unlikely. Over the last few weeks I have been taking my military and "evil black rifles" to the range alongside the normal precision target rifles I usually shoot. I have been refreshing my memory on where all those seldom-shot "assault rifles" hit, what distance they are zeroed at, etc. And I am creating ballistic cards to tape to each stock. Usually I use a tablet to calculate ballistics, but a pre-printed card is better for defense use.

ALL rifle mags are in the process of being fully loaded and stored alongside the rifle that uses them. All handgun ammo is in the process of being moving into labeled caliber-specific ammo boxes with a firearm (and multiple mags) appropriate for that caliber included in the ammo can. What I'm after are simple "grab-and-go" defense deployments.

Just like wearing a seatbelt when I don't expect to get in a car wreck, I want to be ready for defense even if I don't expect the need to arise. Its easy enough to unload mags and put things away later, at my leisure. Conversely, I wouldn't want to have to assemble them in a rapid manner - I want them completely ready for action in advance.

Paranoid much? Yeah, I am. That's how you stay alive during surprises.

Mags can be loaded all the time, the spring does not fatique. That´s some old folks tale.

We'll do what we normally do every election night, have pizza as we watch the results. It's become somewhat of a tradition going back to the early 2000s.

Jeanette Isabelle

Haertig... I've been considering obtaining some Night Vision equipment for a couple of years, but decided against it... my neighborhood has a lot of large overhang trees, privacy fences, relative close houses, and no real clear lanes of vision except for the road way..I live on the corner so I have 4 directions to observe... I have been testing the light gathering ability of my inexpensive Tasco binoculars under normal street light... 7x35 and 12x50, with a 5mm and 4.2mm exit pupil diameters... the slight numerical difference does make my 7x35 slightly better, and the lower power gives me a much better sense of distance at night...

both of my black rifles have Trijicon 4x42 ACOGS and have excellent 8mm exit pupils...

I even added a light mount off the binoculars that hold a P60 high intensity light..

you might want to see how well your long range scopes do as to gathering light, just in case... regards

Understood. Springs don't fatigue under constant pressure. They fatigue from use - compress, stretch, compress, stretch. And it takes a lot of that to wear out a spring.

Most of the mags I have that aren't loaded (thus far) are that way because they are backups - still in their original packaging, unopened. I always keep a minimum of three active (and numbered) mags per firearm, sometimes more. Anything above that I consider backups, and those may remain in their original packaging. Or at least in the past they have remained in their original packaging...

I am not really set up for night shooting. I only have traditional scopes. On my long range rifles, one is equipped with a Nightforce NXS 3.5-15x50 with a 30mm tube. Another rifle has a scope with the same size tube and objective, but that scope is a Vortex PST 4-16x50 FFP. My scopes go down in quality from there, the next being a SWFA SS 10x42 30mm tube. That's actually a very decent and solid scope, looking at how little money they charge for it.

The best binoculars I have are an old pair of Minolta 10x50's (over 30 years old!) They were considered good quality back then, and they still are reasonable enough to meet my needs today. If I were to buy new binoculars, they would probably be 7x50's. I can handhold 10x steady enough for most uses, but it's not always easy to do (for me). Not with those large Minolta's at least. I am much steadier with 7x.

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. If you live in an metro urban area that has already experienced politically motivated violence recently, I suspect that regardless of who wins, or if a winner is uncertain, violence will occur election night and perhaps following nights. Avoid likely target areas as best you can.

At least in our metro area, police and first responders are planning all hands on deck. My sources tell me that is going to be the case in most all urban areas where there's been previous trouble. As an example, in NYC, ALL sworn PD members are being required to don uniforms and will be deployed.

Depending on where you live that may or may not provide much protection, as witnessed in recent months.

In non-urban and suburban areas, probably not a lot to worry about.

Again, hope for the best, prepare for the worst. Avoid as best you can.

We are prepared, regardless of how things turn out. As we are traveling for 4 days prior to election day, coming home Monday, we'll take down campaign signs before we leave rather than have them out over Halloween with nobody home. Just seems prudent.

Went 'grey' about five or six months ago. Don't put our flag out and am being low profile, which is easier now that I'm retired. We're in a suburb in a town home and our community is - well, odd. There are a large number of Indians (dot type)IT folks in our specific HOA and the larger group HOA "master" association has a very large number of retired or 50 plus types. We also have a couple of commercial strip mall properties as a part of the whole HOA group which includes the local Armed Forces Recruiting office for all four branches (sorry no CG). The kids, doing what I will guess is delayed enlistment, run by the house most every week day along with some of the military staff - one day the Marines came by with the Sgt. in his Dress Blues and they weren't slow jogging!

That all makes our immediate area feel 'safe' but were just a few blocks from the major mall/shopping & entertainment center for the area. We are not experiencing any real unrest and the summer protests were never news making riots even if there was some damage downtown and arrests.

With all that, for the election planning - we've stocked up the pantry a bit more just this week and made sure we've got our supplies topped off. I've got my ready mags loaded and the "night stand revolver" are at hand. The only major change was to also have my old duty belt also fully set up and it's ready to go in the closet with the 9MM. The rifle and/or shotgun can come out of the safe as conditions warrant. The wife is going to do a 'phone party' to watch the results with an out-of-state friend and I'm going to bed early. The next morning is when I figure it will be interesting and I plan on paying attention to the local news, scanners and on-line reports. I hope, pray and actually expect it to stay quiet/normal here regardless of the outcome. The following weeks and national reactions will help guide my follow on actions and activities.

Oh yeah, as recommend by others: Stay away from crowds!

In addition to our traditional pizza dinner, there is something special we're doing this year. We'll have all of our shopping done and gas tanks full before election night.

A couple mentioned taking down the American flag to be a grey man. In the gated community we live in, everybody, except for those who are gone for a while, keep their flag up. Therefore, to be the grey man, should we keep ours up?

Jeanette Isabelle

Absolutely. Grey man is all about blending in.

We retired and moved to the northwoods, so we are so rural that there is absolutely no concern about crazy people.

We voted via absentee ballot in the primary because of COVID, then voted in person in the state election (had no real concerns about COVID - they did a great job). Then for the November election they auto-sent us absentee ballots. We were going to vote in person, but at the end of last week decided to use the absentee ballots and turn them in to the town clerk in person (after speaking with her). Again, she's a great person among a whole bunch of great people.

We pretty much keep our politics to ourselves, though we follow all the goings ons all day (hey, we're retired!). What will be - will be.

Our biggest concern is the economy - being retired. The rest we can deal with one way or another.

Keep your spirits up, be kind to everyone, and enjoy the show. I hope your neighborhoods are safe post election.

Gray man with tools handy to repel boarders if necessary.

There will be a lot of emotion election night but it won't be over for days if not weeks. I expect cities to start burning the next day no matter who is ahead in the morning.

I wish my city hadn't gone encrypted as I regard my police scanner as formerly the most timely source of information on disturbances.

I don't really expect big problems here, but if there are any, my guess would be the perpetrators will come from outside of the area. However, I have made mental note of yard signs, flags flying, bumper stickers on cars, etc. to give me an indication of who may believe what I believe, and would may oppose those thoughts. I try to be observant of the environment that surrounds me on a daily basis. 99% of the time, my brain ends up collecting information that it will never need. But there's always that 1% chance when you can say, "I'm sure glad I noticed that."

Come to think of it, I have seen hardly any yard signs, and absolutely no bumper stickers.

I miss the "I Like Ike". Even if you did not vote for the guy, you still liked him...

You guys have your national elections; I have our Provincial election on Oct. 26 and our municipal elections 2 weeks later. And the Feds are making stupid noises about having a national election before Christmas.

I planned to vote tonight in the advance poll. I never demonstrate, decorate with a lawn sign, or anything else. I just do my duty quietly; each to their own response. I've been getting nearly daily telephone polls and doorbell calls - "If an election were held today would you vote fore A B C or D?" I shall be glad when this season is over! Lots of vitriol and name calling but not quite as insane as your election. Have fun!

I never got the yard signs, I doubt if they change any minds. At best, an expensive way of aerating a very small part of the front yard.

Edited to add - There is one crusty old codger down the street from me who always hangs out a huge red and blue Nixon / Agnew banner. That's kind of funny.

Being new to the area (retired here last summer) I didn't honestly didn't know the leanings of folks around here.

Now, there are a LOT of signs in my area. Many (4X-5X) more for one candidate than the other, and lots of really big banners for the apparently more popular candidate.

I don't do signs. I don't need the stress of what they can bring.

I've stepped away from Facebook at least for now because some friends got nasty over even the simplest of political discussions. Lots of emotions, fear, anger, ...

Before then I did have a very interesting and rational discussion about the big 'A' topic with a very good friend from high school who is a neonatal intensive care unit nurse, but somewhat oddly is pro-A. She gave me lots of information I didn't know and points to ponder. If we can discuss that without blowing up, there's hope. PLEASE DON'T DISCUSS THIS HERE. I'm just emphasizing that people can have rational discussions, learn from each other, and remain friends.

Same here! Bumper stickers, too! Who here as ever saw a sign in a stranger's yard or a sticker on a stranger's car and thought to himself, "Well, I guess I better be pro-life now!" or "I guess I better vote for Joe Blow now!"

Around here, if you go by yard signs, "candidate A" will win by a landslide. You see very few "candidate B" yard signs (although you do see a lot of American flags, where appear to be a substitute for a B yard sign).

But when you think about it, the way intimidation and denigration of the B side is going these days, you can tell an A voter because they have an A sign in their yard. You can tell a B voter because they DO NOT HAVE an A sign in their yard (they have no sign at all).

Maybe things are different in other parts of the country. But that's the way it is around here.

Tying this back to the original topic of this thread (preparation), in years past we talked about pocket survival kits, what to take when backpacking, etc., in an attempt to prepare ourselves to survive an unforeseen situation. Or we talked about surviving natural disasters. We don't discuss politics because that just tends to start arguments (we all know that, and try to abide by the "no discuss" rule, with minor slips here and there). But these days, the biggest threat to one's life and health is not some misadventure on a trail somewhere. It is your political beliefs! This is very sad. So while we still cannot discuss politics here (and that's a good thing), what we are discussing is surviving political unrest. Identifying people who may possibly attack us for our views. Planning and discussing on how to protect ourselves from such an attack - which by it's nature, is not a pretty or a pleasant thing to discuss. We sound like a bunch of Rambo wannabees at times. But that's where our society has taken us, unfortunately. I am no longer concerned about carrying a signal mirror, a whistle, or a ferro rod. Other things are more appropriate for me to be carrying now. I hope things swing back to the way there were before, and soon.

I guess I'm just not really participating in it much. As things are with Covid-19 there's really no gatherings going on. Nearly all the restaurants are only doing take-out. I quit drinking eight years ago so I'm not hanging out in bars. The place I work is 22 miles out of town in the Gallatin Forest so there's no one around but my coworkers, and on a busy day there are maybe four of us there! They're younger folks that aren't really into politics. My vote was set in stone when the primaries ended so I'm not really looking for guidance in random people's yards.

How like a geezer to hark back to bygone eras when yard signs and bumper stickers were displayed! Kind of obsolete in the era of the internet.

Hopefully we will get past this without too much violence and return to some semblance of normalcy.

Just remember that the "normal" hazards of the outdoors still exist and must be dealt with....regardless of societal uproar.

still... it is hard to ignore the 800 pound gorilla in the room... as I approach getting old and frail... I'm glad for 35+ years of practical pistol, rifle, and 3 gun competition...

Interestingly, we are suddenly seeing shortages again at Costco and our market. Not as bad as before, but... Theory is that folks are stocking up in case things blow up after the election.

Oh no! Hopefully not another toilet paper run!

My sister was just here to visit, and she picked up some TP to help stock our house. Except it was the cheapest, most worthless single-ply stuff I've ever seen. It says there right on the package: "12 mega rolls = 1-1/2 standard rolls" That's how bad it is. I guess I should go buy some more of the quality stuff, just in case.

Well, I have TP stacked up and a fresh hay-bale-size pack of paper towels so I'm good! Food storage could always be better but my place isn't huge and I don't really have a spot for a chest freezer. As things stand I have a couple months worth of food I won't mind eating, then a couple more months worth of food I'd rather avoid! My ammo situation is pretty squared away as well.

Here where I live in Canada, there is a provincial election (equivalent to a US state election) on Saturday. Typically these are fairly sedate and no extra personal plans are needed before or after.

We will learn later today though if the federal party in office falls to what is known as a non-confidence vote which will trigger a federal election. Again, fairly sedate as compared to our southern neighbours current (and worrisome) situation.

I don't think preparing for some sort of attack is out of bounds. Some of us have been preparing our whole lives when others attack us for our skin color, our sexual orientation, our religion, etc. In fact, some of us have been attacked, and can share tips for safety.

Not too long ago some big guy in a dirty T-shirt and an old van showed up at my house to tell me "we don't want your kind here." Fortunately my neighbors were all cool. When I told them the story, they offered me their guns.

Getting worried for personal safety over politics is a recent thing. If that's your life experience, then you have been luckier than others. See, you can't hide your skin color, but you can hide your politics. My first advice: don't talk politics, take down all signs, when people come by, give them the impression you're on their side, no matter what you think of them, but you're just too lazy to go out, join groups, take action, or whatever. Sometimes the way you talk and the way you dress can give you away. Change that. This may sound extreme to you, but for a long, long time many people have had to do it for safety.

We may be wrong about those yard signs and bumper stickers.

https://www.theonion.com/highly-informed-voter-has-spent-weeks-studying-trump-b-1845427651

I have been known to go collect yard signs after an election (I always ask if I can have them first). They make great target holders for outdoor rifle ranges. Tape your printed targets over them and you have a bunch of ready-to-go stands for your next range trip.

Sorry to hear that has happened to you Bingley. Life is not always fair or just. I wish it were, but realize that sometimes it isn't.

I have no desire to get into a fight with anyone, and I know the whole situation is supercharged right now. But I will add my voice and say this sort of rubbish is not acceptable to me. I've seen it too often -- small people who can only build themselves up by tearing others down. It's easy to destroy; it's hard to build. My 2c.

The best place to hide a leaf is in a forest.

Stay safe everyone. I sincerely hope it doesn't get ugly.

I hope no one is distracted from Corona.
It is still around.

Does anyone live near protest sites? It looks like unrest is starting.

By the way, thanks for the support, guys. At my current location, I encounter discriminatory acts like the one I mentioned a few times a year, generally at work. There is basically nothing anyone can do to prevent them in the short term. People in supervisory positions generally just tell me they're sorry. Some people don't even want to open their eyes and see what's happening to me.

In the long term, however, just as we try to build a community with our neighbors to prepare for emergencies, so must we do another form of prep-- building a truly fair, just society. We cannot be passive and just comfort ourselves with the thought that we are on the good side. We must do something for the good side.