# Where one acquires murder weapons **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 8, 2015, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-one-acquires-murder-weapons/730317 "2015-09-08T01:25:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2015, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-one-acquires-murder-weapons/730317/41 "2015-09-08T16:00:26Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I imagine that the _amount_ of nicotine would still stand out, and I don’t know how easy it is to extract. Right. I don’t know how many cigarettes someone would have to smoke to die of an overdose, but I’m guessing it would have to be an absurdly, bizarrely large number in a short time. ---
**Author:** ![Habeed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a587f6/32.png) [@Habeed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Habeed)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2015, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-one-acquires-murder-weapons/730317/42 "2015-09-08T16:02:30Z")
> [@SpeedwayRyan](#): > > The bolded section really confused me for a bit, as “roofies” is a slang term for the drug Rohypnol and not a slang term for anything surreptitiously slipped to someone. Sorry, I thought it was a generic term that essentially means any drug that can be dissolved in a drink that will incapacitate (but not usually kill) someone. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2015, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-one-acquires-murder-weapons/730317/43 "2015-09-08T16:21:40Z")
> [@Habeed](#): > > Eh. When I was in the Army, there was a lot of paranoia about losing 3-round burst M-16s. I was like “uh, $800 and a drivers license gets you this same rifle, brand new, with a nicer rail system, with everything but the 3 round burst that sucks anyway…” 3-Round burst is still a machinegun, though. And it takes only user-level maintenance to change it from 3-Round Burst to full-auto. With 100-round drums and even belt-fed upper receivers available for unregulated purchase, losing a 3-round burst M-16 is a pretty big deal. If all you had was $800 dollars and a drivers license, all you’d essentially have is a varmint rifle. You would need a drill press, a jig, and a milling machine. A milling machine is not cheap at all! You would also need a sear, a new trigger, new hammer, new disconnector and a new bolt carrier. With a 3-round burst M-16, you can make it completely full-auto by simply removing one tiny spring! With that full-auto lower receiver, you can purchase a belt-fed upper receiver if you want (no ID required!). Now you essentially have an M-249 Squad Automatic Weapon that can spray practically an unlimited amount of ammo without reloading. So yea, it’s a big deal to lose one. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2015, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-one-acquires-murder-weapons/730317/44 "2015-09-08T16:24:36Z")
> [@Patty O'Furniture](#): > > […] and the USA has more carbon monoxide generators per capita than almost any other country. Magazine cartoon, set in used-car lot: Salesman to customer: " Now this car was owned by a little old lady who only used it to carbon monoxide two husbands." :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2015, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-one-acquires-murder-weapons/730317/45 "2015-09-08T16:31:29Z")
I’m less interested in the number of full-auto weapons the government minions lose than I am in the handguns. Rifles are used comparatively little in crime and full-auto stuff almost never. While there is, no doubt, a black market demand for machine guns, they turn up in crimes so seldom that they seem to vanish after purchase. Liquidating stolen handguns is relatively easy. They are the weapon of choice for the criminal element, after all. Handguns get carried, used, and re-sold. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2015, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-one-acquires-murder-weapons/730317/46 "2015-09-08T17:03:35Z")
I knew a girl in college who collected poison recipes. She was a chemistry major and also an excellent cook. I haven’t seen her in 22 years, but she’s still married to the guy she fell in love with during freshmen orientation – who, I expect, is always extremely polite to her. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2015, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-one-acquires-murder-weapons/730317/47 "2015-09-08T17:10:39Z")
[Poison mushrooms](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destroying_angel) can be gathered and served to the target with relative ease. ---
**Author:** ![Habeed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a587f6/32.png) [@Habeed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Habeed)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2015, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-one-acquires-murder-weapons/730317/48 "2015-09-08T17:11:09Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I knew a girl in college who collected poison recipes. She was a chemistry major and also an excellent cook. I haven’t seen her in 22 years, but she’s still married to the guy she fell in love with during freshmen orientation – who, I expect, is always extremely polite to her. Anybody can commit a murder. Not getting punished for it’s the tough part. Just saying, it sounds like a real bad idea to commit murder using an exotic poison when you are known to be a rare expert in such poisons… ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2015, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-one-acquires-murder-weapons/730317/49 "2015-09-08T17:15:03Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I knew a girl in college who collected poison recipes. She was a chemistry major and also an excellent cook. I haven’t seen her in 22 years, but she’s still married to the guy she fell in love with during freshmen orientation – who, I expect, is always extremely polite to her. I knew a guy in eastern Pennsylvania who had a beautiful garden of toxic plants. He was a veterinarian, and kept his garden meticulously fenced. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2015, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-one-acquires-murder-weapons/730317/50 "2015-09-08T17:38:07Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I knew a guy in eastern Pennsylvania who had a beautiful garden of toxic plants. He was a veterinarian, and kept his garden meticulously fenced. Was his fence as decorative as the one around [this garden](http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/step-inside-worlds-most-dangerous-garden-if-you-dare-180952635/?no-ist)? Regarding the linked story: it sounds ridiculous to me that visitors to this garden are prohibited from touching or even sniffing the plants (if you’re _that_ sensitive, you probably should never go outside). And the woman quoted as saying that Brugmansia poisoning is painless is, by general accounts, [dead wrong](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brugmansia). \*Brugmansias are beautiful ornamentals, including the one I have that is currently loaded with enormous drooping pink trumpets. I inhale the fragrance (powerful at night) and have never had any probl ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2015, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-one-acquires-murder-weapons/730317/51 "2015-09-08T17:44:44Z")
> [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](#): > > Toxic gases can be liberated by combining standard household chemicals. I don’t think it would be hard to get a nitrogen canister, and the USA has more carbon monoxide generators per capita than almost any other country. > [@Jackmannii](#): > > Was his fence as decorative as the one around [this garden](http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/step-inside-worlds-most-dangerous-garden-if-you-dare-180952635/?no-ist)? > > Regarding the linked story: it sounds ridiculous to me that visitors to this garden are prohibited from touching or even sniffing the plants (if you’re _that_ sensitive, you probably should never go outside). And the woman quoted as saying that Brugmansia poisoning is painless is, by general accounts, [dead wrong](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brugmansia). > > \*Brugmansias are beautiful ornamentals, including the one I have that is currently loaded with enormous drooping pink trumpets. I inhale the fragrance (powerful at night) and have never had any probl Alas, poor Jackmanii, I knew him, Horatio. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2015, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-one-acquires-murder-weapons/730317/52 "2015-09-08T17:48:10Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Was his fence as decorative as the one around [this garden](http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/step-inside-worlds-most-dangerous-garden-if-you-dare-180952635/?no-ist)? Cool! Love the tunnel. I have seen other botanists produce much more robust _cannabis spp_, however! ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2015, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-one-acquires-murder-weapons/730317/53 "2015-09-08T17:51:16Z")
Need answer fast? > [@dougie\_monty](#): > > I don’t have this in mind myself, Sure you don’t, **dougie**. We believe you. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2015, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-one-acquires-murder-weapons/730317/54 "2015-09-08T18:11:36Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Sure you don’t, **dougie**. We believe you. 😉 I’m betting Maureen’s daughter has finally worn out **dougie’s** patience. ---
**Author:** ![Habeed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a587f6/32.png) [@Habeed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Habeed)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2015, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-one-acquires-murder-weapons/730317/55 "2015-09-08T18:12:11Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Was his fence as decorative as the one around [this garden](http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/step-inside-worlds-most-dangerous-garden-if-you-dare-180952635/?no-ist)? Yikes. I wouldn’t want to have them as my neighbor. I’d feel as bad as if a neighbor was brewing up a bit of nerve gas in his backyard shed as a hobby. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2015, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-one-acquires-murder-weapons/730317/56 "2015-09-08T18:27:30Z")
I have some wireties that would be long enough to fit around the average person’s neck (or one could put two together for more length). That is a one-way trip: once it is cinched down, it can only be removed by cutting. The victim would probably pass out long before they could get to a cutting tool (even better if they are already sleeping at the time). Some nice batting under the ties would obscure tell-tale marks. ---
**Author:** ![Habeed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a587f6/32.png) [@Habeed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Habeed)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-one-acquires-murder-weapons/730317/57 "2015-09-08T18:42:26Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > I have some wireties that would be long enough to fit around the average person’s neck (or one could put two together for more length). That is a one-way trip: once it is cinched down, it can only be removed by cutting. The victim would probably pass out long before they could get to a cutting tool (even better if they are already sleeping at the time). Some nice batting under the ties would obscure tell-tale marks. I think strangulation leaves all kinds of telltale signs and damage. Batting might stop the marks from indicating what caused it, specifically, but it would be obvious the victim was strangled. Then it’s just a matter of the police asking everyone who knew the victim. That, I think, is why 60% of murderers don’t get away with it : if you had a _reason_ to kill the victim, the police will probably find out what it is and then ransack your house looking for clues. Also, in modern American courts, “reasonable doubt” doesn’t appear to mean anything. All the cops have to show basically is 1. You can’t prove you \*didn’t \*commit the murder. Even if you can produce an alibi, time of death is a window and they only have to show that you theoretically could have been there for part of it. 2. They just have to get you to say “inconsistent” things during interrogation, when you are trying to help em out and clear your name. They ask you similar questions a few times on different days, then go over your responses word by word, and find a discrepancy. 3. They then just have to make up a bullshit theory and tell the jury you musta been running a satanic ritual or something else that is scary sounding. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2015, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-one-acquires-murder-weapons/730317/58 "2015-09-08T19:27:33Z")
Brugmansia is related to Jimson Weed–featured in [this list](http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/earthkind/landscape/poisonous-plants-resources/common-poisonous-plants-and-plant-parts/)of poisonous plants from Texas A&M. They are lovely ornamental plants. Oleander, on the list, is common on the Gulf Coast. As kids, we were always warned away from it… So–which part of which plant is most toxic? How to deliver it without detection? If you regularly do the cooking, housemates are probably bad targets. How about a plate of cookies as a peace offering to that annoying neighbor? Delivered on a paper plate… ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2015, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-one-acquires-murder-weapons/730317/59 "2015-09-08T20:13:02Z")
Things are a lot simpler if you can get rid of the body. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2015, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-one-acquires-murder-weapons/730317/60 "2015-09-08T20:36:33Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > With a 3-round burst M-16, you can make it completely full-auto by simply removing one tiny spring! With that full-auto lower receiver, you can purchase a belt-fed upper receiver if you want (no ID required!). Now you essentially have an M-249 Squad Automatic Weapon that can spray practically an unlimited amount of ammo without reloading. So yea, it’s a big deal to lose one. Yes, but even if you were a spree killer, how much better at massacring people would your full auto weapon be? Most likely result is you pull the trigger and in a second or two your magazine is empty and you’ve put a bunch of holes in the ceiling. I’d recommend for your basic spree killer to stick with a basic deer rifle, or whatever rifle they’re most familiar with. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-one-acquires-murder-weapons/730317.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-one-acquires-murder-weapons/730317.md?page=4)