Why Don't You See Grenade Attacks?

[ChoppinBroccoli]

[TheMadMonk]

1. Actually I think it's more becasue they are too impersonal.

The sort of "I want to hurt someone" gun violence we see, tends to be intensely personal, even if the targets are complete strangers.

Grenades may be difficult to come by commercially, but the materials needed to improvise one most certainly aren't.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

3. x2

[caseymoz]

6. Actually Kleibold and Harris

Had wanted the Columbine attack to be primarily with explosives. They planned to shoot people fleeing from the initial explosion and fire when a car in the parking lot was supposed to explode. Had it gone the way they planned, hundreds of people might have died.

It didn't go as planned, though, mainly because the two killers weren't very good with wiring. So, it's harder to improvise explosives than it seems.

No, rather than intimate, I think aiming and pulling trigger is just a hell of a lot easier than "improvising" explosives and possibly blowing yourself up trying to do it. There's a risk that you'd shed your mortal coil with Darwin Award instead of a body count. And no self-respecting spree killer wants that.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

9. There was an episode of Barney Miller years ago you might enjoy...

http://vimeo.com/39116928

[JDPriestly]

11. A grenade does not have the sexual connotation that a gun has.

Seriously. That sounds crazy, but I think that is the difference. Same for bombs.

[spanone]

2. don't come 'round here makin' sense....

[ProgressiveJarhead]

4. Grenades Are Scary

Throwing them in training was enough. I shook every time. Firing them from the 203 wasn't fun either.

[defacto7]

5. Control.

It's about control. With guns, the perp decides who to kill and when to die. The grenade is a weapon of indiscretion. The person trowing it has no control of the exact person/persons or whether it will actually do the harm desired when the perp wants it administered. Guns are pure control. Grenades are a gamble and not the choice of a murderer.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

7. Sure would be my weapon of choice for someone who sits at a computer a lot.

[TimberValley]

8. Because grenades have little practical application.

A firearm can be used for hunting, self-defense. A grenade can only be used for making an explosion - and one that is indiscriminate at that.

[DirkGently]

10. If we outlaw grenades, only grenades will have outlaws.

[Canuckistanian]

12. You want a grenade?

I can get you one by 3 p.m. this afternoon.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

13. WITH Nail Polish?

Is there ANY situation where a Big Lebowski isn't appropriate?

I'll have you know that the Supreme Court has roundly rejected prior restraint!

[Crepuscular]

14. Study regarding the number of bombings in a 20 year period in the US (1983-2002)

Not specifically grenades but many of the incidents involved pipe bombs, which are essentially a homemade grenade. While not that frequent, more incidents then you might have imagined. Around 700 fatalities and 5,000+ injuries. My guess is that there is much less national reporting on pipe bomb incidents, as compared to firearm incidents.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16394919