Cracked.com listed flamethrowers in their list of things that surprisingly aren't illegal. I guess they were wrong.

/red box added by me

If only he had something, some device, that would have kept the police away...

Or as Drew calls it, "The politics tab"

Kome: If only he had something, some device, that would have kept the police away...

A closed sign? That only works if you are already inside a donut shop.

Approves

My wife is always getting invited to Pampered Chef parties and other such events, and she always declines. I hope she lets me know if she gets an invite to a flamethrower party.

The very existence of flamethrowers proves that sometime, somewhere, someone said to themselves, "You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done." - George Carlin

If flamethrowers are outlawed, only outlaws will have flamethrowers.

Fireball! Fireball! Fireball! Fireball!

/Burnin' Down The House
//Better not be obscure

Man hosts homemade flamethrower parties. Surprisingly authorities have a problem with this

Not surprisingly, the headline has nothing to do with the fact that the guy was charged with selling firearms without a license.

Did anyone make a Carlin reference yet?

Did anyone mention George Carlins take on flamethrowers yet!!!

timujin: Also, isn't it illegal to have armor piercing incendiary ammunition, at least without the appropriate license/paperwork? I'm guessing he wouldn't have had that either.

Depends on your state. Standard 50 caliber incendiary or armor-piercing incendiary rounds are legal at the federal level. They're also surprisingly cheap. Not much of a market for them, after all, but there's a ton of surplus out there.

I got some M1 incendiary bullets to load for my 50 cal. I was disappointed that they didn't produce any visible sparks or anything on impact (I was shooting in an old quarry where there's no fire risk).

Luthiel: If flamethrowers are outlawed, only outlaws flamers will have flamethrowers.

Or something...

DukeBabe: Did anyone make a Carlin reference yet?

You beat me by 21 seconds.

FunkOut: Like a LAN party but with everyone in the room trolling various websites, competing to piss off and upset the most people possible. Throw in some beer, this could be fun...

So you want to get a job at fark?

so fast!

A Clarion County man who could make a cannon out of a vehicle's drive shaft and had his own "lightning machine,"

I would like to see these things.

timujin: Also, isn't it illegal to have armor piercing incendiary ammunition, at least without the appropriate license/paperwork? I'm guessing he wouldn't have had that either.

It depends on the state, I think California has some laws regarding such ammo. Get some here:
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/AMM993-5.html

On a related note, it's amazing how unspectacular it is to shoot a full propane tank with such rounds. Big disappointment.

George Carlin Flamethrower (new window)

/Spycheck please!

Megain: /red box added by me

He rents movies?

timujin: Bored Horde: Cracked.com listed flamethrowers in their list of things that surprisingly aren't illegal. I guess they were wrong.

No, they're legal, or at least their legality isn't the issue here.
This guy isn't in trouble because of the flamethrower party, per se, but because at those parties he engaged in other illegal activities, like selling firearms without a license.
Also, isn't it illegal to have armor piercing incendiary ammunition, at least without the appropriate license/paperwork? I'm guessing he wouldn't have had that either.

nope

http://www.google.com/search?q=make+a+flamethrower&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=or g.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

Make your own.

HAHAHAHAHHAHHAAHAHAHAAAA

I LOL'd

AClarion County man who could make a cannon out of a vehicle's drive shaft and had his own "lightning machine,"

I want to party with this man. A Lightning Machine. Damn.

me3512: http://www.google.com/search?q=make+a+flamethrower&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=o r g.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
Make your own.

I know, that "highlight and click" HTML bar is HARD, right?

Make your own (new window)

Whitman, Price and Haddad were all undercover ATF agents.

JesseL: timujin: Also, isn't it illegal to have armor piercing incendiary ammunition, at least without the appropriate license/paperwork? I'm guessing he wouldn't have had that either.

It depends on the state, I think California has some laws regarding such ammo. Get some here:
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/AMM993-5.html

On a related note, it's amazing how unspectacular it is to shoot a full propane tank with such rounds. Big disappointment.

Yeah. They'll flare, but they don't go boom. Propane tanks are made pretty strong - even when you melt one in a fire, they just kind of collapse, or split along the seam.

Best one I've seen was a neighbor of mine who had a cannon made out of a 4 foot long piece of iron pipe. He'd put a beer can full of gasoline down the muzzle, and then use an acetelyne torch to fill the thing up with gas, click the lighter and boom. A very nice yellow flame shoots out about 50 feet with a very beautiful green center to the flame. One of the better 4ths.

TFA: She also described a .50-caliber weapon Mr. Jones ... fired into a tire filled with oxy-acetylene to cause an explosion.

And? You get a better bang out of shooting 40-pound propane tanks with tracer rounds, but there's a shrapnel concern there. If I have plenty of land out in the middle of nowhere, pay my taxes on it like the honest citizen I am, what business does the government have telling me what I can and can't blow up on said property?

At a previous hearing, an investigator described another device made by Mr. Jones that was only 18 inches tall and 12 inches wide that could shoot a flame 40 feet.

I only hope the mice across the street aren't liable to fart.