I’m passing along some information from Gabe Suarez, the CEO of Suarez International, who says it’s not verified but worth considering. If he says it’s worth considering, I’d agree. It doesn’t hurt to overlook any “oh, that’s being paranoid” thoughts if it might save you from potential harm. At the least, be a bit more alert. Anyway, it seems that there is a very high potential risk for some kind of attacks at shopping malls within the United States and not necessarily only in highly populated areas. The speculation is the attackers would be, of course, terrorists of some type. I’d think Muslims, since they are the terrorists of choice lately. Nothing else is known about this risk.

What does this mean? That depends on what you want it to mean. For me, it means virtually nothing, since I don’t go to shopping malls. If you do, it might be prudent to do as Gabe suggested and carry a full-size pistol that holds a lot of ammunition and several spare magazines. Also, if a fight starts, you don’t have to get involved. Get you and your family out. You are not the police and you don’t have to stop all the bad guys. That does mean if you are in a crowded mall with your family, you’d need to have your family close to you and not all over the place where they couldn’t be quickly located. When exiting, keep your gun covered up so any police outside don’t shoot you. They won’t know you are a good guy.

Another option is to start a new “tradition” for this Christmas and either skip all the gifts and marketing altogether or order some books or something from Amazon.com, avoiding malls and crowds completely. I’ve been doing this for many years. It might be because I am terrified of a terrorist plot to attack a shopping mall. Or, it might be because rather than wade through throngs of people for hours, I’d rather sit at home with a Bourbon & Coke and push buttons on a computer for 20 minutes. I believe I know which is my answer.

Finally, you can ignore all of this. It’s likely nothing will happen wherever you go. That’s the thing about any kind of risk. It’s possible, but probably unlikely. These things float around on the internet all the time. Why pay any attention to this one? Your choice, and I’ll be home anyway.