Using at least 100 words, please respond to the following post:

Terror attacks can come in many different places and the severity could be anything from a couple victims to thousands of victims. When I think of a terror attack I think of possible places where someone could get the most victims or casualties in the most effective area. You could take a large place like the Mall of America in Bloomington, MN. This mall is a very large area with many levels and many points of entry. There is a large security presence at the mall to include an ATF K-9. With the many entries, a group of terrorists could enter the mall with a large number of explosives and weapons. For example, they could have pipe bombs that they manufactured themselves and numerous rifles and ammunition. With the Mall of America having on average 40 million visitors annually I think that this could be a place of concern. (“Mall of America – Minnesota Fun Facts,” 2014) Especially with the growing number of domestic terrorists. I do believe that something could and will happen there someday which is an unfortunate thing to think about. Every time I visit there, I carry my service weapon with me since I am an off-duty officer and am allowed. I do like the fact that the ATF has a K-9 at the mall that is trained in explosives. This helps in the effort to deter someone possible placing an unattended bag or some form of explosive in a garbage can. I think it also goes a long way with having the Bloomington Police Department have a satellite office at the mall where they work a full time shift there and people can come directly to the police or the mall security with any problem.

Other places that could be targeted would be tourist attractions. At any attraction you will have a large number of people visiting it from time to time. This gives a terrorist the perfect place to try and cause harm to the public. I live near a popular attraction in Mt Rushmore. Now, I don’t believe someone would try to fly a plane into the mountain because that wouldn’t do anything for them, except “thin their own heard”. But, there are millions of people that come to it to visit. When going there, you don’t have to walk through metal detectors and your belongings aren’t searched prior to entering it. I think this could be a potential spot because there isn’t a large number of security there and it is a place where there is a lot of innocent bystanders. An attack with guns or explosives could happen there.

Mall of America – Minnesota Fun Facts. (2014, June 3). Retrieved from https://www.minnesotafunfacts.com/places-to-visit/…