The technology already exists for hundreds or thousands of deaths, you will grant; but they are not obviously being used, and instances where unusual methods are being used are low body counts (the 2001 anthrax attacks). Given that the spree killers are not already using them, why would we expect this this change?
Are you arguing either that even a small probability of a spree killer using them is too much when the damage could run into the hundreds of thousands, or that the increasing capabilities themselves will increase the probability?
I’m wondering how much damage a guy like this could do in the future if he decided to kill as many people as possible. I figured that some readers would have a strong enough life science background to be able to make a reasonable estimate.
This is assuming that his goal is just to kill as many people as possible. He could much more easily have set up some kind of bomb in the movie theater and killed as many, if not more, people. My impression is that he wanted the visceral rush of murdering all of those people first-person.
The technology already exists for hundreds or thousands of deaths, you will grant; but they are not obviously being used, and instances where unusual methods are being used are low body counts (the 2001 anthrax attacks). Given that the spree killers are not already using them, why would we expect this this change?
Are you arguing either that even a small probability of a spree killer using them is too much when the damage could run into the hundreds of thousands, or that the increasing capabilities themselves will increase the probability?
I’m wondering how much damage a guy like this could do in the future if he decided to kill as many people as possible. I figured that some readers would have a strong enough life science background to be able to make a reasonable estimate.
This is assuming that his goal is just to kill as many people as possible. He could much more easily have set up some kind of bomb in the movie theater and killed as many, if not more, people. My impression is that he wanted the visceral rush of murdering all of those people first-person.