Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[wierd]

The gunman will just end up bringing something heavier than small arms to school, or will bring improvised explosive devices, like pipebombs.

When somebody snaps enough to premeditate, having defenses in place just means the person doing the premeditation plans for those defenses.



It is SOOOO much better to alleviate and remove the source of the person snapping in the first place.

[Yoink]

Are you talkin' like, lobotomy? 'Cause I'm not sure I can get on board with that...

[wierd]

No, systemic reforms of how the school system and its policies work, systemic reforms of the US public health infrastructure so that people can get the help they need when they need it, and things of that nature.

Though Icepicks ARE cheaper.  The GOP should love that idea.

[Reelya]

Defenses still mean you reduce average bodycount.

Whatever they're picking now is optimized for maximizing the amount of destruction they do, given their existing constraints. Adding additional constraints will deter some and make others less effective.

Sure, they could switch to a heavy weapon that can punch through the armor of those portable shields. But is such a weapon going to be quite as effective as a rapid fire light weapon with a big magazine, for mowing down a room full of people? probably not. The bullets weigh a lot more and I'm assuming a gun with smaller bullets can have a bigger magazine on average. So they'd be carting a lot of extra weight around that's not really any more effective at killing people for the off-chance they come up against someone with one of those shields.

The idea of pipe bombs is out too. If you can throw pipebombs around and kill people, i.e. they have impact-based detonators, you'll almost certainly blow yourself up trying to make any sufficient number of them.

[wierd]

Dont be silly. You use a digital timer based one with a small counter circuit, and an electronic detonator.

You press the button, it starts counting. When it reaches the correct bit on the count output, it activates the detonator.  Timers of this nature are very cheap, as are electric squib wires.

That gives you a reliable time between press, and throw, before detonation. Put a dummy pin on it to prevent you activating it in your bag, and you're all set.  No need for a dangerous kinetic detonator.

[hector13]

What’s to stop the gunman from appropriating a bulletproof whiteboard in their attack?

What’s to stop them using armor-piercing ammunition in a higher fire rate weapon? Or just bringing a heavier weapon and a higher fire rate weapon?

If someone is at the stage that they’re thinking of making pipe bombs, they’re preparing for getting around any defenses they might encounter.

[wierd]

Yeah, Premeditation.

If they reach the point of premeditation, they are planning on how to get body count. Defenses only make them have to plan harder, and will result in worse incidences when they happen.

[dragdeler]

-

[wierd]

The idea is to kill all of THEM first, before you get killed by the cops. Blowing yourself up prematurely is purpose defeating. 

[dragdeler]

-

[wierd]

To be perfectly honest, I really dont understand why we dont have more remote detonated type bombings, rather than active shootings.

Bomb supplies are cheap, prepaid phones are even cheaper. You can get transistors in bulk, and last I checked, solder and soldering irons are not controlled materials.


Note, I am **not** trying to be a wellspring of bad ideas here, just pointing out that the materials are all there.  I am genuinely curious why this does not happen more.

Spoiler: basic premise (click to show/hide)

You buy a cheap candybar phone for like 20$ (cash), and activate it using a prepaid credit card bought with cash.

You remove the outer housing, then desolder the rumble motor. (The rumble motor has more power pushed to it than the tweeter speaker, and likely has thru-holes rather than surface mount.)

You attach jumper wire to the rumble motor contacts, and route that to your "detonator" circuit.

The detonator circuit is really just a flip-flop circuit, made of some transistors. You modify it slightly so that it cannot flop back. (You want it to go ON, then stay ON, regardless of additional inputs.)

To that, you attach a model rocket igniter squib, which goes down inside your bomb.


You place the silly thing someplace, then when you are ready, you just call it.

Boom.

[hector13]

If you are unprepared you can end up like Abu Hamza.

[dragdeler]

-

[wierd]

Being an instruction manual for carnage is not my intent here. 


I just wanted to nail down that the materials required are pretty ordinary, and the skill level to make the detonator is "novice."


Perhaps people that are under great mental duress, sufficient that they are premeditating the taking of human life, just aren't very creative, or open to outside the box solutions?

[Folly]

The recent shooting in Texas targeted kids at a back-to-school sale at the mall. All of your bulletproof whiteboards and uniforms are useless to kids who haven't even gotten dressed or gone to school yet.