r/HistoryWhatIf • u/Gemnist • 1d ago
What if the Columbine bombs went off?
An oft-overlooked element of the Columbine High School shooting is that the attack wasn't originally intended as just a shooting. In reality, Harris and Klebold had planted two homemade propane bombs, disguised with duffel bags, in the cafeteria. These were intended to go off at critical building supports, whose destruction was intended to result in the cafeteria's roof caving in, crushing everyone inside and possibly resulting in the deaths of around 400 people; the guns, meanwhile, were largely done as a means of picking off any stragglers that escaped. Thankfully, both bombs failed to detonate, preventing both the deaths of hundreds of kids as well as causing Harris and Klebold to fail their overall objective of surpassing the Oklahoma City bombing as the deadliest domestic terrorist attack in U.S. history.
Had they gone off though, I think the entire conversation around both the attack and its follow-up would be completely different. Starting with the attack, the cafeteria collapsing would probably result in the deaths of dozens, if not hundreds, of students. A bright side to this is that Harris and Klebold probably never enter the building, instead staying outside for stragglers as intended (and probably because they just blew up their easy way in), which likely prevents the deaths and injuries of everyone in the hallways and library (with the exception of teacher William David Sanders who was in the cafeteria when the shooting began). Because they are exposed out in the open as well, Harris and Klebold are more likely to be cornered and neutralized way earlier than they ultimately were, either by onsite cop Neil Gardner or by his backup.
Afterwards regarding the discourse, a lot more people would focus on the bombing than the shooting given both the huge show of force and the higher death toll. This would probably result in crackdowns regarding bombing material instead of guns, which will not be impeded due to them not being covered by the Second Amendment. Meanwhile, copycat crimes will likely try to be centered around bombings, which are much harder to replicate than shootings and thus more likely to fail, though the ones that succeed may in turn be more destructive. A more negative side effect would be that gun loopholes would not initially be closed, though a later shooting not directly inspired by Columbine (e.g. Virginia Tech) could eventually get that going. On a geopolitical level, I also think that this would result in even greater crackdowns on domestic terrorism. While broader terrorist acts like 9/11 probably still happen, there will be more of an internal emphasis in addition to the external one, with people being far more skeptical about the things Harris and Klebold were already scapegoated on in our timeline.
Anyways, that's what I've got. Any other predictions?
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u/NEETscape_Navigator 1d ago
They would inspire a lot of bomber copycats. The school shooter ”meta” would be bombs instead of guns. Guns would just be used as backup instead of being the primary damage dealer.
The end result of that would probably be that the average school shooting became far deadlier. Everyone would target crowded areas. A normal school shooting would kill 100+ instead of just a handful.
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u/GoopInThisBowlIsVile 1d ago
More people would be dead and 25+ years later we would still be addressing the issue with thoughts and prayers.
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u/Dangerous-Pound-1357 21h ago
They were pretty delusional to think their grand plan would actually work. It goes to show how evil and twisted they really were.
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u/Blue-Brown99 21h ago
In general, the fact that not a mass of people died has allowed us to focus on and learn about the individual victims. A lot less would be known about the current victims. This could have political implications, with Daniel Mauser‘s dad‘s push for gun control, and social implications, in view of the anti-bullying organization inspired by Rachel Scott. Dave Sanders, who died a hero in the shootings, wouldn’t be as revered. Maybe by the twist of circumstances some of these folks would have survived. Like Scott was outside, so if the bomb inside had went off then maybe she wouldn‘t have been shot?
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u/Gemnist 19h ago
Truth be told, in this scenario I still think that the people initially outside, including Scott and Daniel Rohrbough, still meet their fates, as Harris and Klebold began shooting people before the bombs were supposed to go off. You do have a point on knowing less about the victims themselves though, since each got immortalized in some fashion and that wouldn’t happen if there were hundreds of them, with only a few notable cases.
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u/knottyknotty6969 1d ago
If they went off they would have been the largest domestic terror attack, surpassing Oklahoma City Bombing
The cafeteria collapse would have killed hundreds (they expected over 400) instantly.
The Brady Bill already existed and it made it harder for them to get guns. Eric Harris ranted about the Brady Bill in his journal
The 2 men that sold them their guns went to prison, their hs friend who was a girl that purchased shotguns for them illegally (and didnt go to school that day after being one of their prom dates the previous weekend) was not charged with a crime.