WASHINGTON (March 7) - Hobbyists who build and launch high-powered model rockets soon could be subjected to federal background checks, fingerprinting and storage area inspections.
Under new provisions set to go into effect May 24 under the Homeland Security Act, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives would place further restrictions on the fuel that powers the rockets.
''You can't even estimate the devastating effect this is going to have on the hobby,'' said Bruce Kelly, the publisher of High Power Rocketry, a hobbyist's magazine.
Hobbyists have won the support of Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., who is drafting legislation to free rocketeers from the rules. His spokesman dismissed government claims that the regulations would better track explosives while not being ''overly burdensome'' to buyers.
Sport rocketry attracts thousands of hobbyists across the country. The rockets can stand taller than an adult, soar miles into the sky and are designed to land intact nearby.
The new rules will require buyers of the rocket fuel, APCP, to submit their fingerprints and photographs to ATF. The bureau will check applicants' backgrounds to see if they are among those banned from possessing explosives - felons, for example.
ATF also will inspect the areas where permit holders store explosives at least once every three years. It will not examine records those people keep, ATF specialist Chad Yoder said.
Currently, permits are required only if a person is receiving the fuel from across state lines.
Enzi says the rules will discourage people from taking up the hobby. The senator and some hobbyists maintain that the regulations also will threaten some educational programs.
The ATF says the most commonly used model-rocket motors, which are smaller and typically use a weaker fuel, do not require permits and will not be affected.
''The Safe Explosives Act has not, does not and will not affect that exemption,'' said Gail Davis, chief of the ATF's public safety branch.
Hobbyists also fear restrictions on how explosive material can be shipped will hamper businesses that make and sell rocket motors.
Curtailed shipping could lead to a de facto ban on motor sales, said Gregory Lyzenga, a model-rocket enthusiast and geophysics researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
''It's not as though there's been a law passed saying 'model rocketry is illegal,' but it's just that the materials are unavailable,'' Lyzenga said.
Rocketeers are suing ATF in federal court in Washington to force it to change its classification of APCP as an explosive. They say APCP burns and does not blow up. A decision is pending.
''The gasoline in the tank of your car would make a better bomb,'' Lyzenga said. ''If I was looking for what I thought was a serious danger to public safety, I certainly would not start here.''
AP-NY-03-07-03 0353EST
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
Posted by Phoenix (Member # 966) on :
At the end of the day, its all a waste of time. If i were a terrorist, I'd just put a nuke in the back of a truck, drive into the centre of a huge city, and blow it up (like in one of Tom Clancy's books). If I am dedicated enough (and have the resources to build a bomb and smuggle it into the US), there is no way, short of Big Brother-esque control, that the US government could stop me. They should try to make the terrorists see that the US isn't the "great satan" or whatever they think it is, so they don't want to kill it in the first place. Banning rockets is just stupid, because whatever they ban, the terrorists will just find some other way to commit murder.
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
I used to build model rockets -- nothing as big as the ones described in that article, just the basic ESTES kits that you find in your run-of-the-mill hobby shops. I don't think any of the rockets I built were more than 2' long.
Still, this kind of legislation is exactly the wrong thing to do, and is merely continuing the terrorists' work by creating a paranoid and oppressive government. There has *got* to be some better way to balance these goals...
On the other hand, I notice that what the government seems mostly worried about is the rocket fuel -- which can be used for other purposes, right? (I'm not the most familiar with those high-performance rockets.)
Anyway, I certainly hope something can be done to knock some sense into these people.
Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
Heck, why not? I don't know exactly how explosive this stuff is, mind you, but it could be used as a bomb, and if the background checks could be executed well, and not be "overly burdensome" to the consumer, then I say go for it. (Mind you, the federal government can't actually legally do that, but this is one of those things that they probably should be able to do, just like gun background checks.)
They should try to make the terrorists see that the US isn't the "great satan" or whatever they think it is, so they don't want to kill it in the first place.
I'm still rather curious as to how you propose we go about this. They're gonna hate us no matter what we do.
Posted by Malnurtured Snay (Member # 411) on :
Wow. Omega's right. Or, as someone once said, "you can't please all of the people all of the time."
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
Model rockets use solid fuel. Do you know how hard it is to make that shit explode? We could never do it. In order to have explodeing missiles, we had to jam the fuses of firecrackers down into the engine venturi tube. Even the larget engines, an N or a Q which stand about as tall as an average man, still can't explode like that. It's much like dynamite, minus the instability of age.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
So, when will there be background checks to buy gasoline, fertilizer, gunpowder...?
Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
Hmm. In THAT case...
Posted by Ultra Magnus (Member # 239) on :
Or forks and microwaves?
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
Soon. Nobody wants to die.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Seems like nobody wants their freedom either. I've never heard of anyone dying from model rockets. Ever. Next weeks exciting episode of Homeland Security: banning detergent. It could be mixed with gasoline to make Napalm!
Too damn bad that Model Rocketry does'nt have lobbiests and millions of dollars to contribute to campaign funds like, say, the NRA. Then their "sport" would be safe. Posted by Wraith (Member # 779) on :
Isn't there some way to make explosives out of bananas?
Posted by Mucus (Member # 24) on :
Probably. Practically any food-stuff or organic substance will have carbon and hydrogen. There will be SOME way of converting it to an explosive, it just depends on how practical it is. Not to mention it would probably be simpler to mix gasoline and a nitogen-based fertilizer. You can count on Bush not banning the former at least
Hell, you can make the same "explosives" that power NASA's rockets by simply running a current though plain old water and splitting it into hydrogen and oxygen. They can hardly ban water and electricity.
There are plenty of options.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
...unless you like model rockets, that is.
Posted by Wraith (Member # 779) on :
Well, there are still plenty of options for them. Admittedly most involve the White House and the world's largest model rocket, but still...
Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :
Of course, this doesn't apply to the kind of rockets most people launch from their backyards, as only the G-class and up engines are prohibited.
quote:The 62.5-gram level for a single engine is reached around the mid-G-motor level, said Trip Barber, vice president of the National Association of Rocketry (NAR), the hobby's recognized leader in promoting model rocketry.
and an exemption is already in the works
quote:That inclusion of APCP and black powder on the explosives list has been a point of contention by the rocketeers toward the government from the very beginning, a fact underscored by U.S. Sen. Michael Enzi, R-Wyo., who is planning to propose a "technical correction" to the rules regarding model rocketry.
Posted by Vogon Poet (Member # 393) on :
Bananas are high in potassium, I seem to recall. That's a bangy sort of chemical, isn't it? Oh, you'd never believe I studied chemical engineering. . .
Posted by Wraith (Member # 779) on :
Well, i hope everyone's ready to apply for their banana licences!!
Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
"Then, I eat the banana, thus rendering him defenseless!"
Posted by Vogon Poet (Member # 393) on :
Give me a pointy stick anyday.
Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :
I'll stick with my usual sixteen-ton weight.
Posted by Vogon Poet (Member # 393) on :
Of course, I do exercise regularly - Fishslaperobics. . .
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
*insert random MPFC reference here*
Laughter ensues!
Posted by Vogon Poet (Member # 393) on :
There's always one. And it's usually Tim.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
Although he's often mistaken for two.
Posted by Wraith (Member # 779) on :
and, in more extreme circumstances, for Taiwan.
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
quote:...of the National Association of Rocketry (NAR) ...
they register any starships?
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
One joke, and the entirety of Great Britain gangs up on me...
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
And it still cannot surround you completely.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
Why don't I ever just not respond? Why am I responding now? To whom am I even talking?
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
Hi Tim! How is you!?
Posted by Futurama Guy (Member # 968) on :
Doing a quick Google search, I found an interesting link for making a Banana Bomb.
Posted by Vogon Poet (Member # 393) on :
"To whom." Heh, heh. Even in the midst of his existential angst, he retains perfect grammatical structure. What a guy. 8)
Posted by Cartmaniac (Member # 256) on :
"Why don't I ever just not respond? Why am I responding now? To whom am I even talking?"
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