Let me just say this ...
When your time is up, your time is up! There hasn't been anyone in the history of mankind who has beaten death yet. Buying gasmasks at the local Army Navy Supply store won't save your bacon.
#1 - The masks are not fitted to your face.
#2 - The cannisters are (a) out of date, or (b) ineffective against that particular agent.
But it is a good panacea if it makes you feel better.
Be vigilant, be alert, but let's not go berserk over it. This is sounding more and more like the movie '1941' with the late John Belushi in it. What's more ... it would be comical if it weren't sadly true. Too many people are jittery and jumping out of their skins at things that go bump in the night. Live your lives as you normally would. If something looks suspicious, then it might be ... but let the "experts" deal with it.
If you keep crying wolf, then after a while people are not going to believe it. And if you really want to look at the irony of this whole thing it is this ... YEEEEAH ... the publisher of the National Enquirer and other scandal sheets is a real credible source to go after!
Buying gasmasks at the local Army Navy Supply store won't save your bacon. #1 - The masks are not fitted to your face. #2 - The cannisters are (a) out of date, or (b) ineffective against that particular agent. But it is a good panacea if it makes you feel better. Stop making sense! I used to be a safety and training guy on offshore oil rigs, and I am currently involved with oilfield emergency response (Fire/Gas leak/Medical/etc).
You are absolutely correct about the uselessness of surplus "gas masks" from Ranger Joe's Army Surplus Store. Respiratory protection is a complex and demanding field- correct mask fitting, training, and maintenance of the equipment takes many, many hours, and is extremely expensive. It has to be done right- anything less is worse than useless (because of the false sense of security that folks may develop). And prophylactic use of Ciprofloxacin (at roughly $3.00 per tablet) is unworkable. There is no possible way that 270 million Americans are going to get CIPRO, and it's effectiveness is very doubtful, anyway. The only answer I can see is to roll up these terrorist networks, hold military trials, and summarily execute them (this will prevent hostage-taking and other actions to free the terrorists who are in custody).
I love civil liberties, but they will need to be severely curtailed for the duration of this war. (Reality- what a drag!)