"i have been reading about mcveigh much of the morning, he seemed to me to be paranoid and fearful of the government. more so than the average bear. he was fascinated, some say obsessed with firearms and the military was a perfect fit for him.

many of us distrust the government" Lance

Wasn't Sgt. McVeigh honorably discharged?
"his fear of his guns being taken from him was over the top as many gun advocates fears are." Lance

I've met the kind of zealots you describe Lance.
I'm not sure McVeigh belongs in that category
at all.

Why not?

Because many such "gun nuts" carry a gun, whether they need to, or not.
And among them, some of them carry that gun in "condition one", which means, just slip off the safety, and it's ready to fire.

Note:
McVeigh was caught because his get-away car wasn't properly displaying a rear license plate.
I believe the law enforcement officer that stopped and arrested McVeigh was working alone.

If McVeigh had been "packin'" that day, why didn't McVeigh just shoot the cop, and keep on driving?
I suspect McVeigh would have been the better shot. He's been praised for exceptional marksmanship.

And McVeigh had the element of surprise working for him. The cop didn't know what McVeigh had done when he initiated the traffic stop.

Lance,
Your description simply doesn't mesh with the facts. I think you've got McVeigh substantially wrong here.

I don't think he was paranoid.
I think he was vengeful.

"when the bigots of this world have been privileged for as long as they have, to them equality feels like discrimination." shiftless2