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legal ramifications of homemade explosives

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IamSmooth

Fri May 10 2013, 02:59PM

Registered Member #190 Joined: Fri Feb 17 2006, 12:00AM
Location:
Posts: 1567

I know when I was in high school many honors chem students would make small quantities of homemade explosives just to see if they could do it. I remember seeing friends setting off thermite and other pyrotechnics in the streets. Today, if someone does this they will probably have a SWAT team breaking down their doors.

I want to know what people here think. Is it against the law to make small quantities of exlosives in one's backyard? Is it illegal to grind a rocket engine and set off the powder, or to make a gram of acetone peroxide or a few drops NTG? I am not saying I or anyone should do this. There are obvious safety concerns. The question is strickly a legal one. Is it against the law to do this at one's home? When does it cross the line and become a "terrosist" threat?

Steve Conner

Fri May 10 2013, 03:10PM

Registered Member #30 Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 10:52AM
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Posts: 6706

Luckily I got all that out of my system before it was really an issue. My own personal line in the sand was that I wouldn't do anything involving nitric acid. I didn't know about acetone peroxide, but I'd have been equally wary of it as nitrated explosives.

HV Enthusiast

Fri May 10 2013, 06:01PM

Registered Member #15 Joined: Thu Feb 02 2006, 01:11PM
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Posts: 3068

I don't think its a question of what people here think whether something is illegal or not. Its up to the laws drafted by the government and its sister agencies.

Honestly, i wouldn't even discuss these types of things on a public forum.

If someone can simply be arrested and expelled from school for making a gun shape out of a pop-tart, i would hate to think what they would do if they found someone actually setting off homemade explosives in their backyard.

Its a different world we live in nowadays.

Case an point . . .

Legislators and prosecutors don't even care that you're a straight A student or a chemistyr major. All they care about is setting an example.

IamSmooth

Fri May 10 2013, 07:14PM

Registered Member #190 Joined: Fri Feb 17 2006, 12:00AM
Location:
Posts: 1567

Look at this:

This is what made me think of this.

I also read yesterday about a housekeeper that founds a suspicious looking object in a house she was cleaning.

If you read this article it says the device is illegal. This seems to imply that there are other things that home chemists take for granted that are illegal. I know some police officers. I'm going to have to ask them what how they have been briefed on handling these things and what they consider dangerous and illegal.

I agree with EVR and don't plan to discuss this further.

HV Enthusiast

Sat May 11 2013, 01:10AM

Registered Member #15 Joined: Thu Feb 02 2006, 01:11PM
Location:
Posts: 3068

Yeah. I'm sure big brother is watching and scanning forums all over the internet for "keywords."

Wastrel

Sat May 11 2013, 11:38AM

Registered Member #4095 Joined: Thu Sept 15 2011, 03:19PM
Location: England.
Posts: 122

My understanding is that draino bombs have specific legislation in the US. I've heard they were used a lot to blow up mailboxes and of course they throw out a lot of caustic material when they go.

One interpretation of the cartridge sized device is that it contains material intended to form shrapnel, in which case it would be a weapon. Anyone who makes any kind of firework has a duty to keep it away from the cleaner or the meter reader or anyone else who might report it. You signed up for the risk, they did not.

Laws vary a lot from place to place and there is no excuse for not reading them first.

Fraggle

Sat May 11 2013, 01:36PM

Registered Member #1526 Joined: Mon Jun 09 2008, 12:56AM
Location: UK
Posts: 216

Like Steve, I got it out of my system years ago but in the post-9/11 world I wouldn`t even think about it. These days I`d be afraid to purchase anything that so much as resembled an oxidiser or even a dozen boxes of matches. Hell, components of ANY obvious reaction that changes volume rapidly are off my shopping list, even buying torch gases makes me feel like a criminal.

Steve Conner

Sat May 11 2013, 07:00PM

Registered Member #30 Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 10:52AM
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Posts: 6706

I feel sorry for chemistry teachers. How are they going to teach chemistry without blowing things up?

Fraggle

Sat May 11 2013, 07:18PM

Registered Member #1526 Joined: Mon Jun 09 2008, 12:56AM
Location: UK
Posts: 216

I remember clearly to this day the time when our chemistry teacher almost took his hair off demonstrating how iron is extracted from iron-ore in a blast-furnace. We even got to pass the still-warm nugget of iron around the class.
I hope that science lessons are as much fun for kids now but I suspect not.

Conundrum

Sat May 18 2013, 12:06AM

Registered Member #96 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 05:37PM
Location: CI, Earth
Posts: 4062

"Changes volume rapidly".. that would cover LiPo packs used in most small electronic devices these days.

I did notice that the casings on these have been steadily decreasing in thickness, and a very small perforation can let moisture in.
Shorts to the case have also become more common as manufacturers cut corners to increase capacity beyond sensible limits.

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