|
| ▲ | jandrewrogers 3 days ago | parent | next [-] |
| Explosives are a weird case because Americans can just buy industrially manufactured high explosives. Attempting to DIY an explosive that is almost certainly inferior to what you can buy commercially is a red flag. Before 9/11 caused them to tighten up the rules, buying high explosives in the US was cash-and-carry. You could walk in and select different kinds of high explosives from a giant menu. If you wanted something unusual they could special order it. The only real requirement was that you had a non-sparking container for it (basically, no exposed metal) when you carried it away. Most people aren't familiar with this because most regions of the US don't have much need for these types of stores. It still isn't difficult today from my understanding, there is just more paperwork. The more practical hurdle is complying with safe storage regulations since they want some distance between where you store it and the neighbors. You can't just stash a few hundred pounds in your suburban garage. |
| |
| ▲ | cucumber3732842 3 days ago | parent [-] | | >before 9/11 caused them to tighten up the rules, You mean "before the Weather Underground blew up a bunch of random shit with hardware store dynamite in the 1970s". >It still isn't difficult today from my understanding, there is just more paperwork. The paperwork and compliance is enough of an expensive PITA it precludes everyone who isn't a regular commercial user, which is exactly the point. It used to be that farmers just cleared forest and blew stumps and rocks up. This might sound absurd but when you start looking at the cost of doing that job with equipment it's preferable if you're rural enough to not endanger anything. | | |
| ▲ | jandrewrogers 3 days ago | parent [-] | | It worked how I described in the late 1990s. I know someone who went through the new process and it didn't seem that onerous. As I recall it isn't that different from the process for getting Global Entry on your passport. Explosives are still heavily used in mining and construction. Many of those operations are just a couple individuals, not any kind of real company. | | |
| ▲ | cucumber3732842 3 days ago | parent [-] | | > I know someone who went through the new process and it didn't seem that onerous My understanding is that it's nigh on impossible as an individual now but I may be wrong. >Many of those operations are just a couple individuals, not any kind of real company. In my limited experience the guys who do the explosives have typically made a business out of it and get subcontracted to many mines and jobsites to blow this or that up. |
|
|
|
|
| ▲ | antonymoose 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| The “Oklahoma City Fertilizer Bomb” style bomb is heavily watched. ANFO just isn’t a good vector for a lone wolf anymore. With that said, any GWOT veteran with explosives training could make enough HME to make a mass casualty event à la OKC all over again. Maybe not all at once, right this second, but it’s a real threat vector. Worse, these training manuals available open-source and easy to replicate. My neighbor is retired EOD, he has all Federal licenses manufactures explosives for the purpose of stump removal, if you can believe it, I’ve seen the process. It’s so easy a caveman could do it. Thankfully, no one really seems to do so. Mostly because manufactured firearms are easier to get ahold of. Or in Europe, smuggled weapons. We cannot forget what insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan did. It’s hubris to say “can’t happen here.” |
| |
| ▲ | mothballed 3 days ago | parent [-] | | I don't think the licenses are hard to get anyway. The hardest part is satisfying the storage requirements. As a bit of trivia, when congress defunded the ability for felons to restore their firearm rights, they actually forgot part of it. By an accident of history, felons can still get an explosives license. |
|
|
| ▲ | cjbgkagh 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| While quasi regulated they just raise the bar of expertise required. Poisons, bioweapons, and explosives are pretty easy to make at scale without using suspicious inputs. At the moment the 3D printing crowd are pretty savvy I’m sure many could hook up a new controller or flash their existing one. |
|
| ▲ | subhobroto 3 days ago | parent | prev [-] |
| OK, then what's my plan when coyotes and mountain lions attack my child and I on our regular walks on rural property? As we build more housing and cities close in, these wild animals are being run out of their natural habitat. Is the answer "dont be on rural property!" or are there real practical solutions? > but I think bombs and bioweapons and etc are very bad examples for you here Are there better examples? Also, I for one don't undermine the drive and tenacity of an evil person and to what extent they are willing to cause harm. |
