School bombing instead of school shooting

[gorfle]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/04/21/school.bomb.plot/index.html

Just goes to show, for someone bent on raising hell at a school you don't need guns.

[iverglas]

1. and yet maybe if he'd stuck to guns

it would have succeeded ...

[iverglas]

2. I mean seriously

What have you had down there -- one bombing? That Oklahoma City one.

No, okay, there were a few abortion clinics.

And how many people have shot up public areas full of people in the time since Oklahoma City?

And that bomb killed how many people, compared to the number killed by some of the people with guns?


If we want to characterize a bunch of very different events as being the same -- in this case, being about someone "bent on raising hell" -- well, just think what we could get up to.

Hilary climbing Everest and the Britney Spears doing whatver it is she does: two people "bent on getting their name in the headlines" ...



History - one I'd never heard of, of course:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_School_disaster

[gorfle]

3. So?

What have you had down there -- one bombing? That Oklahoma City one.

No, okay, there were a few abortion clinics.

And how many people have shot up public areas full of people in the time since Oklahoma City?

And that bomb killed how many people, compared to the number killed by some of the people with guns?

It is logical that given the easy access and ease of use of firearms that they would be used more often to commit school killings.

My point of posting a link to the article was simply to point out that it isn't the only way to go about it, and I suspect that without firearms people like the VT and NIU shooter would find another way to act out their ambitions.

[iverglas]

4. wel DUH, eh?

It is logical that given the easy access and ease of use of firearms that they would be used more often to commit school killings.

de duh duh duh.


It is logical that given the easy access and ease of use of firearms that they would be used more often to commit school killings.

My point of posting a link to the article was simply to point out that it isn't the only way to go about it ...

Again, you're pretending to believe -- or hey, maybe you really believe -- that there's an "it" here.

If guns are so easy to access and use, why was this guy ordering explosives off the internet?

Kinda makes me think there's a different "it" in play ...


... and I suspect that without firearms people like the VT and NIU shooter would find another way to act out their ambitions.

Notice how Timothy McVeigh was still breathing for quite some time after his bombing, and the VT and NIU guys aren't?

Who the hell wants to kill him/herself with a bomb?

[gorfle]

5. Replies...

Again, you're pretending to believe -- or hey, maybe you really believe -- that there's an "it" here.

I have no clue what you are trying to say. I said:

My point of posting a link to the article was simply to point out that it isn't the only way to go about it

I'm pretty sure it's pretty obvious what "it" is - school mass killings, since that is what the article was about (blowing up a school with a bomb).

It's quite clear that school mass killings do exist, we don't need to pretend.

If guns are so easy to access and use, why was this guy ordering explosives off the internet?

First, he wasn't ordering explosives, he was ordering Ammonia Nitrate. As to why he chose bombs instead of guns, who knows? My point is, for people who want to do such things, banning guns won't stop them.

Notice how Timothy McVeigh was still breathing for quite some time after his bombing, and the VT and NIU guys aren't?

That's because the motivation between Timothy McVeigh (political) and the Columbine, NIU, and VT shooters (vengeance, hatred, and suicide) was entirely different.

Who the hell wants to kill him/herself with a bomb?

Who the hell wants to kill themselves with anything?!?!?

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

8. Who the hell wants to kill him/herself with a bomb?

The palestinians seem quite fond of it.

David

[gatts]

10. Access and Purchase

If guns are so easy to access and use, why was this guy ordering explosives off the internet?

My first guess would be that he wasn't particularly smart. Ammonium nitrate is a common fertilizer, and can be found in many hardware stores in fairly strong combinations. The remaining materials for what he was likely aiming for can be found in WalMart, with the hardest other component being the optional powdered aluminum.

If the idiot had a brain on his shoulders... well, he wouldn't be making a bomb in the first place... but he'd have realized he could get potassium nitrate even easier at local shops, and that stuff is even less difficult to work with. And that's just one, basic angle. There are a good half-dozen other combinations I can think of off the top of my head that would be about as dangerous.

We caught him for the same reason we catch every other idiot like this; he made a damned stupid decision. Unfortunately, if anyone like him was smart in the first place, we'd have no chance. It's not even feasible to monitor or legislate half the stuff that can be turned into weaponry, nevermind ban it.

[piedmont]

6. Worst school massacre in U.S. history was a bombing-- no guns involved. nt

[spin]

7. The Bath School disaster 1927

The Bath School disaster is the name given to three bombings in Bath Township, Michigan, USA, on May 18, 1927, which killed 45 people and injured 58. Most of the victims were children in the second to sixth grades (7-12 years of age) attending the Bath Consolidated School. Their deaths constitute the deadliest act of mass murder in a school in U.S. history. The perpetrator was school board member Andrew Kehoe, who was upset by a property tax that had been levied to fund the construction of the school building. He blamed the additional tax for financial hardships which led to foreclosure proceedings against his farm. These events apparently provoked Kehoe to plan his attack.]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_School_disaster

[SteveM]

9. Ban the Bomb! And the horse it rode in on.

[Longtooth]

11. It's actually amazing what can be cobbled together from a few

household chemicals that are currently sitting under most kitchen sinks right now.