USA Today has their panties in a bind over the availability of lawn fertilizer. They claim that Congress is ignoring the lessons learned by the Oklahoma City bombing and the 9-11 terror attacks. While it's true that the Oklahoma City bombing used ammonium nitrate fertilizer as a major ingredient, Congress has yet to answer the calls for strict regulation.

Six years ago, the National Academy of Sciences' National Research Council recommended banning sales of packaged ammonium nitrate unless dealers required foolproof identification from buyers and kept accurate records, much as gun dealers are required to maintain. The council also suggested additional steps if terrorist threats increase, such as putting chemical "markers" in fertilizer to aid bomb-sensing equipment, licensing all fertilizer dealers and requiring purchasers to obtain government permits.

Now nobody wants to see another terrorist bombing, but the cost of such security measures must be taken into account. The Oklahoma City bombings also used Ryder trucks, yet the trucks can be easily rented with very little regulation. Should Congress pass expensive unfunded mandates that would cripple the truck rental business? Ammonium Nitrate is harmless without fuel oil. Perhaps we should impliment strict regulations on it's purchase as well.

No matter what we do, we cannot make America absolutely safe. And even if we could, would it be worth the cost? Would making automobiles absolutely safe be worth a fivefold increase? I don't know about you, but I wouldn't pay $100,000 for a car no matter how much safer it was. When it comes to terrorism, diligence, a properly waged war on terror, and a little luck, hopefully the impact of terrorism can be minimized. A free and open society has a price, and unfortunately sometimes it must be paid in blood.