Oklahoma City bombing

==Aftermath==
Within 48&nbsp;hours of the attack, and with the assistance of the [[General Services Administration]] (GSA), the targeted federal offices were able to resume operations in other parts of the city.<ref name="CongressHearing">House of Representatives, ''Federal Building Security: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Economic Development of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure''. 104th Congress, April 24, 1996. Interview with Dave Barram, Administrator of GSA, p. 6</ref> According to Mark Potok, director of Intelligence Project at the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]], his organization tracked another 60&nbsp;domestic smaller-scale terrorism plots from 1995 to 2005.<ref name="talley">{{cite news|last=Talley |first=Tim |url=http://legacy.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060417/news_1n17okla.html |title=Experts fear Oklahoma City bombing lessons forgotten |work=U-T San Diego |date=April 17, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313182758/http://legacy.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060417/news_1n17okla.html |archive-date=March 13, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="60List">{{cite news|last=Blejwas |first=Andrew |author2=Anthony Griggs |author3=Mark Potok |url=http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2005/summer/terror-from-the-right-0 |title=Almost 60 Terrorist Plots Uncovered in the U.S.: Terror From the Right |publisher=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]] |date=Summer 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110205235920/http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2005/summer/terror-from-the-right-0 |archive-date=February 5, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Several of the plots were uncovered and prevented while others caused various infrastructure damage, deaths, or other destruction. Potok revealed that in 1996 there were approximately 858&nbsp;domestic militias and other antigovernment groups but the number had dropped to 152 by 2004.<ref name="PotokAntiDrop">{{cite news|last=MacQuarrie |first=Brian |title=Militias' era all but over, analysts say |date=April 19, 2005 |work=[[The Boston Globe]] |url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-17763519_ITM |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110623153230/http://www.rickross.com/reference/militia/militia91.html |archive-date=June 23, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Shortly after the bombing, the FBI hired an additional 500&nbsp;agents to investigate potential domestic terrorist attacks.<ref name="FBI500Agents">{{cite news|title=The Enemy Within |date=June 7, 2001 |work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1374356.stm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120210125747/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1374356.stm |archive-date=February 10, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Legislation===
{{Terrorism}}

In the wake of the bombing, the U.S. government enacted several pieces of legislation including the [[Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996]].<ref name="AntiFAS" /> In response to the trials of the conspirators being moved out-of-state, the Victim Allocution Clarification Act of 1997 was signed on March 20, 1997 by President Clinton to allow the victims of the bombing (and the victims of any other future acts of violence) the right to observe trials and to offer impact testimony in sentencing hearings. In response to passing the legislation, Clinton stated that "when someone is a victim, he or she should be at the center of the criminal justice process, not on the outside looking in."<ref name="Barbarians">{{cite journal|last=Cassell|first=Paul|title=Barbarians at the Gates? A Reply to the Critics of the Victims' Rights Amendment|journal=Utah Law Review|volume=479|year=1999}}</ref>

In the years since the bombing, scientists, security experts, and the [[Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives|ATF]] have called on Congress to develop legislation that would require customers to produce identification when purchasing ammonium nitrate fertilizer, and for sellers to maintain records of its sale. Critics argue that farmers lawfully use large quantities of the fertilizer,<ref name="ANLegislate">{{cite news|last=Condon |first=Patrick |title=Bomb ingredient restricted in 2 states |date=June 12, 2004 |work=[[The Boston Globe]] |url=https://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/06/12/bomb_ingredient_restricted_in_2_states_fertilizer_mostly_goes_untracked/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725111152/http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/06/12/bomb_ingredient_restricted_in_2_states_fertilizer_mostly_goes_untracked/ |archive-date=July 25, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and as of 2009, only Nevada and South Carolina require identification from purchasers.<ref name="ANLegislate"/> In June 1995, Congress enacted legislation requiring chemical [[taggant]]s to be incorporated into dynamite and other explosives so that a bomb could be traced to its manufacturer.<ref name="Taggants">{{cite news|last=Gray |first=Jerry |title=Senate Votes to Aid Tracing of Explosives |date=June 6, 1995 |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/06/us/senate-votes-to-aid-tracing-of-explosives.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605150702/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/06/us/senate-votes-to-aid-tracing-of-explosives.html |archive-date=June 5, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2008, [[Honeywell]] announced that it had developed a nitrogen-based fertilizer that would not detonate when mixed with fuel oil. The company got assistance from the [[Department of Homeland Security]] to develop the fertilizer (Sulf-N 26) for commercial use.<ref name="HoneySafe">{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |title=Company Creates Hard-to-Ignite Fertilizer to Foil Bomb-Makers |date=September 23, 2008 |publisher=Fox News Channel |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,426564,00.html?sPage=fnc/scitech/naturalscience |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090806084435/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,426564,00.html?sPage=fnc%2Fscitech%2Fnaturalscience |archive-date=August 6, 2009 |url-status=dead|access-date=September 30, 2017 }}</ref> It uses ammonium sulfate to make the fertilizer less explosive.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sulfn26.com/documents/Sulf-N_Fact_Sheet.pdf |title=Honeywell Sulf-N® 26: A New Fertilizer for a New World |publisher=HoneyWell |access-date=May 11, 2016|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131209172209/http://sulfn26.com/documents/Sulf-N_Fact_Sheet.pdf |archive-date=December 9, 2013 }}</ref>

===Oklahoma school curriculum===
In the decade following the bombing, there was criticism of Oklahoma public schools for not requiring the bombing to be covered in the curriculum of mandatory Oklahoma history classes. Oklahoma History is a one-semester course required by state law for graduation from high school; however, the bombing was only covered for one to two pages at most in textbooks. The state's PASS standards (Priority Academic Student Skills) did not require that a student learn about the bombing, and focused more on other subjects such as corruption and the [[Dust Bowl]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Alex Cameron |url=http://www.newson6.com/story/12224663/15-years-later-time-to-teach-students-the-murrah-bombing |title=15 Years Later: Time to Teach Students the Murrah Bombing? |publisher=NewsOn6 |date=March 30, 2010 |access-date=December 10, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512171139/http://www.newson6.com/story/12224663/15-years-later-time-to-teach-students-the-murrah-bombing |archive-date=May 12, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> On April 6, 2010, House Bill 2750 was signed by Governor [[Brad Henry]], requiring the bombing to be entered into the school curriculum for Oklahoma, U.S. and world history classes.<ref>{{cite news |author=Ed Vulliamy |date=April 11, 2010 |title=Oklahoma: the day homegrown terror hit America |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/apr/11/oklahoma-bombing-15-years-on |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407100211/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/apr/11/oklahoma-bombing-15-years-on |archive-date=April 7, 2014 |url-status=live |work=The Guardian |location=London |access-date=December 10, 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author=Jennifer Pierce |url=http://www.news9.com/Global/story.asp?S=12264522 |title=Governor Henry Signs Bill Making Murrah Bombing Required Learning |publisher=News9 |date=April 6, 2010 |access-date=December 10, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140406040439/http://www.news9.com/Global/story.asp?S=12264522 |archive-date=April 6, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="oudaily">{{cite web |author=Ricky Maranon |url=http://www.oudaily.com/news/bill-adds-okc-bombing-to-education-curriculum/article_3c71a42c-30d8-54a7-a51f-8c4053449e90.html |title=Bill adds OKC bombing to education curriculum |work=The Oklahoma Daily |date=April 7, 2010 |access-date=December 10, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101217092228/http://oudaily.com/news/2010/apr/07/bill-adds-okc-bombing-education-curriculum/ |archive-date=December 17, 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref>

On the signing, Governor Henry said, "Although the events of April 19, 1995, may be etched in our minds and in the minds of Oklahomans who remember that day, we have a generation of Oklahomans that has little to no memory of the events of that day.... We owe it to the victims, the survivors and all of the people touched by this tragic event to remember April 19, 1995, and understand what it meant and still means to this state and this nation."<ref name="oudaily" />

===Building security and construction===
[[File:DemolishedAMbuilding.jpg|thumb|right|300px|alt=Two images are stitched together showing the site of where the building stood prior to its demolition. A crowd of people are visible in front of the chain link fence blocking entrance to the site. Large piles of dirt can be seen on the site as well as damage to nearby buildings.|The site of the building after it was demolished, three months after the bombing]]
In the weeks following the bombing, the federal government ordered that all federal buildings in all major cities be surrounded with prefabricated [[Jersey barrier]]s to prevent similar attacks.<ref name="Salon">{{cite news|last=Manjoo |first=Farhad |title=Cityscape of fear |work=[[Salon (website)|Salon]] |url=http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/08/22/architecture/ |date=August 26, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110218065059/http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/08/22/architecture |archive-date=February 18, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> As part of a longer-term plan for [[United States federal building security]], most of those temporary barriers have since been replaced with permanent and more aesthetically considerate security barriers, which are driven deep into the ground for sturdiness.<ref name="InvisibleInsurrection">{{cite news|last=Hill |first=John |title=Changing Place/Changing Times |work=Invisible Insurrection |year=2004 |url=http://www.archidose.org/writings/insurrection.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110112232644/http://www.archidose.org/writings/insurrection.html |archive-date=January 12, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="CIO">{{cite news|last=Duffy |first=Daintry |title=Hidden Strengths |date=December 9, 2003 |work=CIO Magazine |url=http://www.cio.com.au/index.php/id;759321961 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807172418/http://www.cio.com.au/article/182068/hidden_strengths |archive-date=August 7, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> All new federal buildings must now be constructed with truck-resistant barriers and with deep setbacks from surrounding streets to minimize their vulnerability to truck bombs.<ref name="SMC">{{cite web|title=Safeguarding Building Perimeters For Bomb Attacks |publisher=Security Management Consulting |url=http://www.secmgmt.com/safeguarding-building-perimeters-for-bomb-attacks/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716030021/http://www.secmgmt.com/safeguarding-building-perimeters-for-bomb-attacks/ |archive-date=July 16, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="PoP">{{cite journal|last=Dixon|first=David|title=Is Density Dangerous? The Architects' Obligations After the Towers Fell|journal=Perspectives on Preparedness|date=October 2002|url=http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/files/is%20density%20dangerous.pdf|access-date=June 5, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224113813/http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/files/is%20density%20dangerous.pdf|archive-date=December 24, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="McHC">{{cite news|last=Nadel |first=Barbara A. |title=High-risk Buildings Placed in a Class All Their Own |date=March 25, 2002 |work=[[Engineering News-Record]] |url=http://enr.construction.com/features/buildings/archives/020325c.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110416232540/http://enr.construction.com/features/Buildings/archives/020325c.asp |archive-date=April 16, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> FBI buildings, for instance, must be set back {{convert|100|ft|m}} from traffic.<ref name="WPFairfaxAgents">{{cite news|last=Markon|first=Jerry |title=FBI's Fairfax Agents Packing For Pr. William |date=October 25, 2006 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/24/AR2006102401239_pf.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110120452/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/24/AR2006102401239_pf.html |archive-date=November 10, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The total cost of improving security in federal buildings across the country in response to the bombing reached over $600&nbsp;million.<ref name="Unfinished29">{{cite book|last=Linenthal|first=Edward|title=The Unfinished Bombing: Oklahoma City in American Memory|page=29|isbn=978-0-19-516107-6|year=2003|publisher=Oxford University Press }}</ref>

The Murrah Federal Building had been considered so safe that it only employed one security guard.<ref name="Apocalypse41">{{cite book|title=Apocalypse in Oklahoma|last=Hamm|first=Mark S|page=41|isbn=978-1-55553-300-7|year=1997|publisher=Northeastern University Press }}</ref> In June 1995, the DOJ issued ''Vulnerability Assessment of Federal Facilities'', also known as ''The Marshals Report'', the findings of which resulted in a thorough evaluation of security at all federal buildings and a system for classifying risks at over 1,300&nbsp;federal facilities owned or leased by the federal government. Federal sites were divided into five security levels ranging from Level 1 (minimum security needs) to Level 5 (maximum).<ref name="WBDGAssets">{{cite news|author=WBDG Safe Committee |title=Security for Building Occupants and Assets |date=October 31, 2008 |publisher=Whole Building Design Guide |url=http://www.wbdg.org/design/provide_security.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110315081503/http://www.wbdg.org/design/provide_security.php |archive-date=March 15, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The Alfred P. Murrah Building was deemed a Level 4 building.<ref name="JusticeRecommendations">{{cite news|author=WBDG Safe Committee |title=Justice Department Issues Recommendations For Upgrading Federal Building Security |date=June 28, 1995 |publisher=[[United States Department of Justice]] |url=https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/Pre_96/June95/365.txt.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111027161311/http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/Pre_96/June95/365.txt.html |archive-date=October 27, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Among the 52&nbsp;security improvements were physical barriers, closed-circuit television monitoring, site planning and access, hardening of building exteriors to increase blast resistance, glazing systems to reduce flying glass shards and fatalities, and structural engineering design to prevent [[progressive collapse]].<ref name="SecurityCivicsLessons">{{cite web |last=Nadel |first=Barbara A. |title=Oklahoma City: Security Civics Lessons|volume=2|issue=4|date=April 2007 |website=Buildings.com |url=http://www.buildings.com/newsletters/detail.aspx?contentID=4975 |access-date=June 5, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071215033058/http://www.buildings.com/newsletters/detail.aspx?contentID=4975 |archive-date=December 15, 2007}}</ref><ref name="DesigningSecurity">{{cite news|last=Nadel|first=Barbara A.|title=Designing for Security|work=[[Archit. Rec.|Architectural Record]]|url=http://archrecord.construction.com/resources/conteduc/archives/research/3_98_1.asp|access-date=June 4, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121006164304/http://archrecord.construction.com/resources/conteduc/archives/research/3_98_1.asp|archive-date=October 6, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

The attack led to engineering improvements allowing buildings to better withstand tremendous forces, improvements which were incorporated into the design of Oklahoma City's new federal building. The [[National Geographic Channel]] documentary series ''[[Seconds From Disaster]]'' suggested that the Murrah Federal Building would probably have survived the blast had it been built according to California's earthquake design codes.<ref name="SecondsDisaster">{{cite episode|title=The Bomb in Oklahoma City (Oklahoma City)|series=[[Seconds From Disaster]]|season=1|number=episode 3|network=[[National Geographic Channel]]|airdate=July 20, 2004}}</ref>

===Impact according to McVeigh===
McVeigh believed that the bomb attack had a positive impact on government policy. In evidence he cited the peaceful resolution of the [[Montana Freemen]] standoff in 1996, the government's $3.1&nbsp;million settlement with [[Randy Weaver]] and his surviving children four months after the bombing, and April 2000 statements by Bill Clinton regretting his decision to storm the Branch Davidian compound. McVeigh stated, "Once you bloody the bully's nose, and he knows he's going to be punched again, he's not coming back around."{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|pp=378–383}}