Fort Dix Six Trained in Poconos

Looks like the Fort Dix Six trained at a Pennsylvania Game Commission range in Gouldsboro, PA, the PGC Shooting Range at State Game Lands 127. See this article in the Pocono Record, with map locations of where they lived. Also see this article, where a local shooter describes them as lousy shots, who were breaking range rules and never bothered to clean up their mess.

From one of the suspected terrorists:

“You are in the mountains in the Poconos … In Pennsylvania. It is about two hours away from here. We went there for a week walking in the mountains and shooting in the open shooting range.”

The video showed 10 young men in their early 20s “shooting assault weapons at a firing range … while calling for jihad and shouting in Arabic ’Allah Akbar’ (God is great),” the complaint said. The 10 included six of those arrested, authorities said.

Scary stuff. I repeat the call for shooters in Pennsylvania to be vigilant, on the look out for people that look out of place, and are breaking the range rules. Report suspicious activity1. Carry at all times, if you have a license to do so.

Pennsylvania Game Wardens have just been put on the front lines of War on Terror. Hopefully they will step up patrols of public shooting ranges. Welcome to asymmetric warfare in the 21st century.

Hat tip to Nathaniel for the links

1Use your judgement here. I think everyone would agree that someone on the range taking video of themselves shouting “Allah Akbar!” would fall into the realm of suspicious activity. Anyone flagrantly breaking range rules, or being unsafe would fall under this as well. We must take care not to be unfriendly to new shooters.