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Friday, August 26, 2016

The arms race for personal protection

Forget Guns, Flamethrowers Now Available To the Public 



Every so often there’s a news report about some idiot with a gun shooting himself in the crotch or a kid finding a parent’s or grandparent’s gun and killing either himself, a sibling, parent, or grandma.

Now we can look forward to sizzled and crackling family members and friends with the latest news that flamethrowers will now be available to the general public.

That’s right folks, you too can get your very own flamethrower – the weapons of war that were so controversial the U.S. military stopped using them after Vietnam.

A Cleveland startup called “Throwflame” is selling flamethrowers for the low, low price of $1,599 that can shoot fire for 50 feet.

Another company, “Ion Productions Team of Detroit,” is selling flamethrowers that can shoot flames for 25 feet for only $900.

The flamethrowers are, of course, marketed not as weapons, but as fun devices.


“We always have the people who just want it for fun. Impress the neighbors at the BBQ,”  Throwflame founder Quinn Whitehead told CNN Money.

Yep, loads of fun at the family get together when everyone is chomping down hot dogs around the pool and drinking beer. Because what says “party” after pounding beers in the hot sun any better than a stream of fire shooting across the yard.

And best part is that it’s all completely legal according to a spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, who said it doesn’t regulate them because they are not guns.

That means buyers don’t need to go through background checks from the FBI.

Richard Zombeck is a freelance writer, featured blogger at Huffington Post, and co-host of the T&Z Talk Podcast. He’s much older and angrier than he looks. You can listen to his Podcast , follow him on Twitter , and find him on Facebook.