The Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995 was a domestic terrorist attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal building. The attackers used a truck filled with ammonium nitrate and fuel oil as their weapon (The Oklahoma City Bombing, n.d.). Ammonium nitrate was originally synthesized by Johann R. Glauber in 1659. It was created to be a fertilizer for crops. It works so well as a fertilizer because of its high nitrogen content (Lallanilla, 2013). Its explosive capabilities were not discovered until World War I. The Axis powers used ammonium nitrate bombs as weapons in World War I (Philpott, 2013). It is very safe to deal with which makes it easier to use in the creation of explosives (AMMONIUM NITRATE, n.d.). It is commonly used …show more content…
Potential terrorist bomb threats could materialize from these prices. With materials to build a bomb so readily available a second Oklahoma City Bombing might not be too far off. Just how cheap is it? A metric ton of ammonium nitrate sells for about $275 (Ammonium Nitrate Price, n.d.). In order to replicate the oklahoma city bombings you would need approximately 2.2 metric tons of ammonium nitrate (OKC Bombing, n.d.). This would cost someone only $605. For many people that's less than a week's salary. A potential terrorist would have no trouble acquiring the ammonium nitrate to build a bomb. This puts many people's lives in danger.
Conclusion
Ammonium Nitrate is a very dangerous substance that should be more restricted. It should still be available to farms at an inexpensive price, but should not be available to everyone. There should be a screening process to ensure the buyer has good intentions and will use the ammonium nitrate responsibly. It should still be available for farm use as it promotes small business. If its price was increased it could cause a virtual monopoly in the farming industry by the big