Current Events > How plausible is this security measure for stopping school shooters?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Install a dense line of sprinklers about every 15 feet in a school hallway. When an extremely loud noise, like a gunshot, is detected by sound sensors, the sprinklers shoot out jets of extremely hot steam. The steam is hot enough to the point where someone attempting to cross it without proper protection would suffer second-degree burns. If the sprinklers are packed close enough together, they could create a veritable wall of steam that the shooter simply cannot pass without risking serious bodily injury. The sprinklers could be hooked up to the school's existing water infrastructure, and all that would need to be installed are the sprinklers and some water heaters. Cleanup afterwards, assuming the hallways don't have carpet flooring, would be minimal as well.

Just popped into my head and I can't find any data on it because Google keeps giving me results for Steam (the store) instead of steam (the gaseous form of water).
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fucking. GENIUS.
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1.) Wouldn't they be able to account for that if they were planning something like this?

2.) What about students/teachers in the hall? You'll basically be torturing them as well?
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What happens if someone decides to shoot while kids are in the hallways going to their next class?

Not only that, but don't you realize how loud hallways get when hundred of kids are passing through them?
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Wouldn't that trap other people between walls of steam that bullets can still easily pass through?
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Are you serious?
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Clearly what we need are 6-inch thick steel blast shields that can be deployed over doors and windows with the press of a button.
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LanHikari10 posted...

1.) Wouldn't they be able to account for that if they were planning something like this?

Yes; however, they'd have to completely cut off any way for the steam to hit their skin, so it would be cumbersome, make it more difficult to shoot, and also be predictable, since the shooter would likely have to come to school dressed that way.
LanHikari10 posted...

2.) What about students/teachers in the hall? You'll basically be torturing them as well?

They're not designed to torture anyone; they segment the hallway into 15-foot-long areas that are near-impossible to cross without serious bodily injury.
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People brought fireworks to my school multiple times.
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What we really need are vibration sensitive floors that drop away to reveal pits full of spikes and/or snakes
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It would probably be easier to just further look into people who are reported to their school and the FBI multiple times and had the cops called on them on three dozen occasions.

Occam's Razor.
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Set off the normal sprinklers and enjoy a relaxing, lukewarm massacre
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r4X0r posted...

It would probably be easier to just further look into people who are reported to their school and the FBI multiple times and had the cops called on them on three dozen occasions.

Occam's Razor.

Dana made that Sheriff look like a fool last night.
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eston posted...

Wouldn't that trap other people between walls of steam that bullets can still easily pass through?

Steam is very difficult to see through; the shooter would have an incredibly difficult time trying to aim.

AlecSkorpio posted...

What happens if someone decides to shoot while kids are in the hallways going to their next class?

Not only that, but don't you realize how loud hallways get when hundred of kids are passing through them?

A fair point. The sprinkler activation could be localized to just the origin of the gunshot. In any case, it would severely hamper the shooter's mobility and lower the amount of people they're able to kill.
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Imagine fantasizing about potential school shootings all day.

People are letting the media do this to them.

Probably worse than fantasizing about illegals causing crime.
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Uncle Choad posted...

Imagine fantasizing about potential school shootings all day.

People are letting the media do this to them.

Probably worse than fantasizing about illegals causing crime.

It helps when half of the time I spent in school today was discussing the shooting and ways to prevent further ones.
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So pretty much all anybody would have to do is let off a gun during passing period.

Youre just making it easier for a someone to inflict a large amount of pain onto a large group of people in a short amount of time.
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Flockaveli posted...

So pretty much all anybody would have to do is let off a gun during passing period.

Youre just making it easier for a someone to inflict a large amount of pain onto a large group of people in a short amount of time.

It doesn't just rain steam from the entire ceiling. If they go off, I believe it's reasonable to think that all the students would be able to stay between the walls of steam for however long it takes for the sprinklers to be shut off.
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The amount of lawsuits that would spawn from something like this is innumerable
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Garioshi posted...

It doesn't just rain steam from the entire ceiling. If they go off, I believe it's reasonable to think that all the students would be able to stay between the walls of steam for however long it takes for the sprinklers to be shut off.

And how are they going to know where these walls are? If you tell everybody then a potential student school shooter knows when and where to shoot first to avoid the sprinklers

You've just corralled everybody into predetermined sections of the floor and restricted their movement

Genius
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wackyteen posted...

Garioshi posted...

It doesn't just rain steam from the entire ceiling. If they go off, I believe it's reasonable to think that all the students would be able to stay between the walls of steam for however long it takes for the sprinklers to be shut off.

And how are they going to know where these walls are? If you tell everybody then a potential student school shooter knows when and where to shoot first to avoid the sprinklers

You've just corralled everybody into predetermined sections of the floor and restricted their movement

Genius

Considering they'd be on the ceiling, anyone can just look up and see their location.

It doesn't matter where the shooter starts; their movement will be restricted to 15 feet all the same.
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Did anyone see the student at Town Hall who suggested building better walls as a deterrent? lol
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MelzezDoor posted...

Did anyone see the student at Town Hall who suggested building better walls as a deterrent? lol

lmao
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Garioshi posted...

Considering they'd be on the ceiling, anyone can just look up and see their location.

It doesn't matter where the shooter starts; their movement will be restricted to 15 feet all the same.

So they're just gonna find the longest hallway in the school building, pull the fire alarm, everybody runs out, they're gonna fire a shot, set off the sprinklers which corrals everybody into 15 foot sections that they can't leave without suffering debilitating pain. Even if they run through it, they're still gonna be hurting and in pain and that's going to slow them down. So while everybody is either corralled by the sprinklers or limping/slipping away they're getting gunned down

This idea is stupid
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wackyteen posted...

Garioshi posted...

Considering they'd be on the ceiling, anyone can just look up and see their location.

It doesn't matter where the shooter starts; their movement will be restricted to 15 feet all the same.

So they're just gonna find the longest hallway in the school building, pull the fire alarm, everybody runs out, they're gonna fire a shot, set off the sprinklers which corrals everybody into 15 foot sections that they can't leave without suffering debilitating pain. Even if they run through it, they're still gonna be hurting and in pain and that's going to slow them down.

This idea is stupid

I did suggest localizing the sprinklers to where the gunshot was detected, but I definitely see the issue.
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