# Is an attack on DC already underway? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 16, 2015, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-attack-on-dc-already-underway/737718 "2015-11-16T18:14:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-attack-on-dc-already-underway/737718/1 "2015-11-16T18:14:37Z")
Emblazoned across [CNN.com](http://CNN.com)’s main page right now is an obnoxiously large photo of terrorist shitheads with guns, titled “ISIS THREATENS D.C.” I didn’t look for the article, because what else it is going to say that you can’t figure out from the splash screen? Now, cross-reference this with a story that broke this morning. [A bunch of weapons were stolen from an army reserve armory in Massachusetts.](http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/11/16/weapons-stolen-from-massachusetts-army-reserve-building/?intcmp=hplnws) Officials are being tight-lipped about what exactly was stolen, and how many. I’m sure I’m not the only person wondering if perhaps the robbery was Step 1, and now they’re driving to DC for Step 2? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-attack-on-dc-already-underway/737718/2 "2015-11-16T19:57:56Z")
The radio service of the Associated Press pointed out that if ISIS indeed intended to attack DC, they’d have gone silent rather than issue a warning. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-attack-on-dc-already-underway/737718/3 "2015-11-16T20:03:06Z")
Time square, New Years Eve. That’s the kind of thing they will do. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-attack-on-dc-already-underway/737718/4 "2015-11-16T20:09:20Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Time square, New Years Eve. That’s the kind of thing they will do. Hmmm… Along those lines, maybe an attack on a Thanksgiving Day parade? Boston, New York, and DC are all relatively “local” to the site of the theft. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-attack-on-dc-already-underway/737718/5 "2015-11-16T20:10:27Z")
I’m sure that ISIS or whoever can find plenty of weapons in the US without needing to steal them from an army reserve depot. My guess is that these were stolen so they could be sold on the black market. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-attack-on-dc-already-underway/737718/6 "2015-11-16T20:13:57Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I’m sure that ISIS or whoever can find plenty of weapons in the US without needing to steal them from an army reserve depot. My guess is that these were stolen so they could be sold on the black market. Depends what they stole. Will be interesting to see when that info is released. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-attack-on-dc-already-underway/737718/7 "2015-11-16T20:19:03Z")
According to the [Fox affiliate in Boston](http://www.myfoxboston.com/story/30522507/worcester-us-army-reserve-broken-into), “10 Sig Sauer 9mm handguns and six M-4 5.56mm assault rifles were taken.” Isn’t that all available at your local gun show? ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-attack-on-dc-already-underway/737718/8 "2015-11-16T20:42:54Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > According to the [Fox affiliate in Boston](http://www.myfoxboston.com/story/30522507/worcester-us-army-reserve-broken-into), “10 Sig Sauer 9mm handguns and six M-4 5.56mm assault rifles were taken.” Isn’t that all available at your local gun show? The handguns are easy to find, but the M-4s are actual select fire assault rifles - I don’t know if they’re full auto or 3 round burst, but either way, extremely difficult to buy legally. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-attack-on-dc-already-underway/737718/9 "2015-11-16T20:44:33Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > According to the [Fox affiliate in Boston](http://www.myfoxboston.com/story/30522507/worcester-us-army-reserve-broken-into), “10 Sig Sauer 9mm handguns and six M-4 5.56mm assault rifles were taken.” Isn’t that all available at your local gun show? The M-4’s will be select or maybe burst fire (three rounds at a time). ‘Machine guns’. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-attack-on-dc-already-underway/737718/10 "2015-11-16T20:48:26Z")
Yeah, if you want a gun to kill people in DC, just do what everyone else here does and go to Virginia. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-attack-on-dc-already-underway/737718/11 "2015-11-16T20:52:49Z")
We do know that the government doesn’t take the security of government installations in Washington DC seriously. Remember the Washington Navy Yard shooting just two years ago where one deranged individual killed a dozen people? > **[Washington Navy Yard shooting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Navy_Yard_shooting)** > > The Washington Navy Yard shooting occurred on September 16, 2013, when 34-year-old Aaron Alexis fatally shot 12 people and injured three others in a mass shooting at the headquarters of the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) inside the Washington Navy Yard in southeast Washington, D.C. The attack took place in the Navy Yard's Building 197; it began around 8:16 a.m. EDT and ended when police killed Alexis around 9:25 a.m. It is the deadliest mass shooting in Washington, D.C. history, as well as ... A trained group of ISIS terrorists there could probably have killed 100. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-attack-on-dc-already-underway/737718/12 "2015-11-16T20:55:08Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > The handguns are easy to find, but the M-4s are actual select fire assault rifles - I don’t know if they’re full auto or 3 round burst, but either way, extremely difficult to buy legally. And the people who do own that kind of gun legally (ie, militia types) would never in a million years sell a gun to a swarthy Middle Eastern-looking guy. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-attack-on-dc-already-underway/737718/13 "2015-11-16T20:57:39Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Time square, New Years Eve. That’s the kind of thing they will do. That’s been my nightmare for _years,_ even though I have no intention of ever going there personally. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-attack-on-dc-already-underway/737718/14 "2015-11-16T21:03:50Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > > [@muldoonthief](#): > > > > The handguns are easy to find, but the M-4s are actual select fire assault rifles - I don’t know if they’re full auto or 3 round burst, but either way, extremely difficult to buy legally. > > And the people who do own that kind of gun legally (ie, militia types) would never in a million years sell a gun to a swarthy Middle Eastern-looking guy. I would have thought that the bombing at the Boston Marathon would have disabused people of the notion that all Muslim extremists are “swarthy Middle Eastern-looking guys.” There are plenty who look like typical Northern Europeans. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-attack-on-dc-already-underway/737718/15 "2015-11-16T21:51:33Z")
The story I saw on CNN’s front page earlier today was that ISIS does not have the capability to pull off something in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-attack-on-dc-already-underway/737718/16 "2015-11-16T22:26:04Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > The story I saw on CNN’s front page earlier today was that ISIS does not have the capability to pull off something in the US. It really doesn’t take anything more than 2 or 3 nutjobs with guns to pull off a terrorist attack in a crowded area. I’m sure they have the nutjobs here, and getting guns isn’t going to be that hard for them at all. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-attack-on-dc-already-underway/737718/17 "2015-11-16T22:36:02Z")
Headline now reads, ‘No specific, credible threat’. Not seeing any articles/reports of that kind originating domestically. (…Maybe those Dumb-Asses were stuck on the Beltway & ran out of gas…?) ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-attack-on-dc-already-underway/737718/18 "2015-11-16T23:24:56Z")
If ISIS really intended an imminent attack on DC, they wouldn’t wait till now to steal guns. An organization that can plan what they did in Paris will have everything they need long before they intend to use it. At least, that’s what I think. I’ve been accused of overplanning… ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-attack-on-dc-already-underway/737718/19 "2015-11-16T23:47:14Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Hmmm… Along those lines, maybe an attack on a Thanksgiving Day parade? Boston, New York, and DC are all relatively “local” to the site of the theft. Black Friday sales, but would anyone notice. Declan ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2015, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-attack-on-dc-already-underway/737718/20 "2015-11-17T03:33:54Z")
Googling that, I see that many news outlets are mentioning a video, purportedly from ISIS (okay, it’s DAESH now) threatening DC, but nobody knows if it’s authentic. True, it’s Monday evening now and I think this has been out there all day already, and I didn’t actually open and read any of the stories. This post itself may be obsolete even as I’m typing it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-attack-on-dc-already-underway/737718.md?page=2)