In the resurging discussion of terror threats emerging from the Middle East, it’s hard to turn on the news without getting the distinct impression that the sky is falling. While some of the fear surrounding this topic is overblown, some of it isn’t. There are bad people in the world who do want to do bad things to Americans.

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So what can we do, here at home, to help ensure that we don’t see more tragedies like what was witnessed on September 11, 2001?

Here are three suggestions:

1. Eliminate gun-free zones

Committing violent acts of terror against unarmed civilians is the epitome of cowardice. It is for this reason that we, both publicly and privately, must refuse to empower terrorists by establishing or maintaining gun-free zones.

Gun-free zones do nothing to promote or provide safety from deranged attackers or terrorists. In reality, gun-free zones only encourage terrorists by creating large target areas where law-abiding, disarmed individuals can be attacked with little hope of self-defense.

As Robert Heinlein famously observed, “an armed society is a polite society.”

2. Privatize the TSA

The TSA was created to make travelers safer and to prevent such horrible events as those that occurred on 9/11. So far its performance has been less than inspiring.

Despite its massive $8 billion tax-funded budget, over 62,000 employees, and the ability to legally violate the privacy and dignity of travelers, the TSA has performed as poorly or perhaps even worse than airport security under the FAA before 9/11.

In the first decade of its existence, 25,000 security violations occurred, three out of four fake bombs made it through TSA screenings when tested, and TSA officers couldn’t even stop a man with explosive underpants even though they had been specifically warned about him by his father.

No serious person can believe that these are acceptable standards or that we are getting as much safety in return for the liberty we lose. Pressure should be put on our elected representatives to abolish this failed institution of security theatre and allow the private sector to innovate and serve customers as only it can.

Eliminating dependency on government by privatizing airport security would give airports an incentive to make their flights safe while still maintaining respect for the civil liberties and comfort of passengers whose business they depend on.

3. Follow the law, not the leader

In America’s long war on terror, the power to commit preemptive acts of war, such as airstrikes and extrajudicial killing of suspected terrorists—suspected, not convicted—has increasingly pooled into the hands of its executive branch.

These acts have taken place in Libya, Somalia, Yemen, Pakistan, Iraq, and Syria with no declaration of war from the US congress or an applicable authorization for the use of military force. And let’s not forget, they occurred with complete disregard for the sovereignty of the nations involved as well as international laws that prohibit acts of aggression in countries that have not first initiated attacks.

Legal issues aside, it is even more problematic that, according to Middle Eastern press reports, US drone strikes have an abysmal accuracy rate. In Pakistan, drone strike accuracy is reported to be as low as 2%, meaning for every one terrorist that is killed 50 civilians are also killed. There can be no doubt that each civilian death contributes to terrorist motivations and increased hatred towards Americans.

If Americans want more safety at home, they must demand that Congress reclaim the power ceded to the executive branch and adhere to the rule of domestic and international law. This is a critical first step in reducing the anti-American sentiments that fuel the growth of terrorist organizations abroad.