Re: Dangerous Devices

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: Davetracer@xxxxxxx 

In a message dated 9/15/2005 11:51:19 AM Mountain Daylight Time, 
tesla@xxxxxxxxxx writes:
Don't consider this wild speculation. Most of us are probably familiar with
the PVC pipe "potato cannons" powered by a squirt of hair spray or a few
drops of lighter fluid. The BATF specifically excludes these from the
official definition of a firearm, so you might think that building or
possessing one of these devices is "safe". However, local police
jurisdictions apparently have the power to define "dangerous devices". I
personally know of a case in California where a compressed-air powered
potato launcher was seized by police and the owner/builder successfully
prosecuted for possession of a "dangerous device", resulting in a FELONY
CONVICTION.

Don't think that in the worst case it couldn't happen to Tesla coils.

Scott Hanson


    Hoo boy!  This sure rings a bell.

    There are several levels of firearm ownership, each with an 
associated yearly tax.

Regular firearms, no tax.
Dealer in regular firearms (FFL): About $20
Machine guns, silencers, and sawed off shotguns: $500 per year
Destructive Devices (we means bombs and exposives here) $1000 per year

Transfer of a machine gun (etc) to someone else (e.g., a sale): $200

The thing is,. the BATF, which is never known for its sanity, 
controls these. You give up your 4th Amendment right for a 
warrant-search if you become a dealer. They can bust in any old time 
and check your stuff. Your paperwork must always be in order.

Incidentally, machine guns and stuff are legal (except in California 
and Wash. State) to own. The problem is selling the things! Here in 
Colorado, the police won't sign off on a "Form 4", which allows you 
to sell one. That's against the law, but when the police agree to do 
something like this, there is nothing you can do. (Well, I could sue 
them, but who wants to sue the local police who may be needed?)

I clearly remember when Federico Pena, in the Clinton Administration, 
"decreed" that the Striker-12 Shotgun should be moved from "Regular 
Firearms" to a "Destructive Device". I would have had to pay $1000 
yearly just to own a frapping shotgun! Needless to say, I (legally) 
disposed of it from my inventory. Later, I got tired of the whole 
BATF business and gave up my dealer's license -- I mostly had it to 
buy ammo at better prices, because I enjoy target shooting.

And the Striker-12 wasn't that good a shotgun to begin with. If you 
fired it, it spattered you with shotgun pieces...

I am wondering if Tesla Coils might be moved to a Destructive Device 
by some policy wonk "because they interfere with ambulance radios" or 
some dumb thing like that. The FCC "Class B" regulations were passed 
partly because of hype about computers interfering with "life saving 
communications".

    -- David Small