Calif. teen arrested for rocket launcher in car

[tawadi]

Source: cbsnews.com

Calif. teen arrested for rocket launcher in car

September 14, 2011 1:49 PM

(CBS/KPIX) NOVATO, Calif. -- A 15-year-old boy was arrested Tuesday for possession of a destructive device after a 4-foot rocket launcher was found in the backseat of the SUV he was driving, Novato police said.

The unlicensed Novato teen was stopped by a police traffic officer around 9:40 a.m. for playing music too loudly in the Dodge Durango, Cpl. Nick Frey said, reports CBS station KPIX.

Police called the bomb squad from the University of California at Berkeley Police Department, which took possession of the rocket launcher and turned it over to a local military institution, Frey said.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20106094-504083.html

[DJ13]

1. They grow up so fast these days... sigh

But seriously, where would he get that?!

[Abin Sur]

10. In post #2 there's a link to an auction where you can buy one right now.

[slackmaster]

64. You can often get them at gun shows and swap meets in California, and there is no law against it.

It's NOT a destructive device. It's not even a weapon. It's a discarded, USED, single-use item.

:argh:

[Abin Sur]

2. It's an empty AT4 launcher...so what?

Here's one for sale right now:

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=250852613



Current high bid: $105.00 with 4 days left.

What's the big deal? As far as I know these are perfectly legal.

[tawadi]

4. Well

I didn't think they were legal to carry around in a car. In California anyway. lol

[slackmaster]

67. You COULD look up the California Penal Code or Vehicle Code and cite which section you believe...

...applies.

But your search would be long and futile.

[Blue_Tires]

7. I'm guessing not legal in Cali...

Unless the kid could prove it was some useless prop completely incapable of firing...

[Abin Sur]

9. California's gun laws are absurdly restrictrive

So you may well be right.

[Diclotican]

15. Abin Sur

Abin Sur

You have not know restricive Gun laws - before you try to get a license to a weapon in Norway....

Diclotican

[Abin Sur]

17. Heh...fair enough

They're certainly restrictive by the standards of the state I live in, Colorado. Even the worst state gun laws such as those in California, Illinois, and Massachusetts are great compared to those in most European countries.

[Diclotican]

36. Abin Sur

Abin Sur

The reason with a big R, why most europeans country have so mutch stricker gun laws than in the US, is mostly becouse of a whole different culture around the use of weapon all togheter.. Even tho different parts of Europe, have their own culture about weapon, and the use of it, it is common to have a strict law, where the use of weapon is strictly controlled and lisenced.. And for the most part, at least in Norway, most who own a weapon, use it to hunt animal, not to use against humans.. Norway is a country with a lot of weapons in the population, but where few use weapon in anger against eatch other. Mostly becouse of strict gun laws, but also becouse of a culture where you use weapon to hunt, and then lock it all down in secure cabinet. Or in some cases, have it on a wall somewhere, even tho this is illegal becouse of new gun laws, and the enforcement of it is rather strict!. If your gun is not closed down in a special gun cabinet, you can loose both your weapon, and your lisence to have weapon..

And to be honest - I have no problems with strict gun laws.. For me, the whole idea that everyone could have all what their heart desire of weapons is wierd.. I can understand if you need a hand gun for your own personal protection - but not AR-15 and so one weapons.. or if you look at youtube, you can se a lof of pepole using weapons, who even the armed forces would envy you... Even tho I doubt that the persons on Youtube would have been to difficult to make by, if an real soldier, from the US army, would be against them..

And we dosen't have all this militias either..

Diclotican

[harmonicon]

37. Absurd indeed.

Not only are rocket launchers not legal to openly carry, ICBMs aren't even allowed in your own home!!

[Abin Sur]

41. Hoplophobes!

I want my own LGM-118 Peacekeeper. I'm not unreasonable about it, I'm will to go through a 14 day waiting period and a background check.

Heck, I'll even keep the safety on.

[Le Taz Hot]

56. We like them just the way they are, thanks.

[Abin Sur]

58. Many do. Many don't.

[Le Taz Hot]

60. And that would be for the people of California

to decide, which we've done.

[Abin Sur]

68. I agree, with the caveat

That certain levels of gun control are unconstitutional, as per the recent Heller decision regarding the prohibition of handguns in Washington DC.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

13. Its legal in CA as far as I know...the cops most likely could not tell the difference

[Abin Sur]

18. As another poster points out

It's just an empty tube of fiberglass. You'd think a police officer would have more common sense.

(You'd be wrong, of course...)

[Xithras]

53. Perfectly. My dad had a Panzerfaust in California for 20 years.

As has been pointed out many times already, these aren't weapons. The weapons are the rockets or missiles that go inside of them. The tubes are just the bits left over after the weapons are fired.

This is a weapon in the same sense that the pin on a hand grenade is a weapon.

[BrightKnight]

47. It is not a weapon and it has never been a gun. - n/t

[slackmaster]

62. It's perfectly legal to have a fired tube from a single-use rocket launcher in California

There is no law against it. The item is not serviceable.

I have a LAW tube sitting next to my desk right now.

The cops COULD have checked with the federal BATFE to see whether or not the item was actually a destructive device, but that would be too much work.

[Codeine]

72. Totally off topic. . .

diggin' the username! :hi:

[postulater]

3. Shoulda concealed it, no-one would have noticed.

[aggiesal]

5. I thought we have a right to ...

bear arms.

Or maybe that was a right to arm bears.

[Tyrs WolfDaemon]

32. I Like Bear with Guns!

[99th_Monkey]

6. Clearly this teen has listened to way too much Bruce Cockburn

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7vCww3j2-w

[Bosso 63]

20. Now thats a blast from the past.

[Taverner]

8. Did it have any rockets?

If not, then wasn't it just a really heavy piece of metal?

[guitar man]

14. Fiberglass

If there's no rocket in it that means it's been fired. It's a single use weapon so the tube is discarded after firing. An aluminum baseball bat is a more dangerous weapon than that empty tube.

[slackmaster]

63. It's made of composite material. It's essentially a piece of reinforced plastic tubing.

Perfectly legal.

[makhno]

11. A fan of Libya's NTC?

Technicals. Coming to your neighborhood soon.

[SoapBox]

12. ...was he one of the Addams Family?

But seriously...WTF???

[GreenStormCloud]

16. Rocket launchers are legal. They are nothing more than empty tubes.

It is the rockets that are controlled, not the launchers. For that matter, a rope stretched between two trees will do as a rocket launcher.

[fascisthunter]

19. that's ok... Freedom to Carry is a Constitutional Right according to the NRA

I'm gonna buy a tank myself, that way, my "arms" can carry me instead.

[Abin Sur]

21. Tanks are perfectly legal to own.

Go for it! Here's a website with a bunch of them for sale:

http://www.armyjeeps.net/armor1.htm

I particularly like the 1943 Sherman for only $325,000!

[fascisthunter]

22. awesome!!!!

Can I drive it to work? Now all I need to be is a militant rich meathead!

[Abin Sur]

23. I'm confident that there are laws prohibiting tracked armored vechicles on public roads

You could probably drive a wheeled APC were you to comply with all safety laws (taillights, etc.).

As for needing to be a militant rich meathead, I believe all you have to be is rich...and not even that so much. A T-34/85 in lousy shape is only $33,500!

[AtheistCrusader]

27. You can get special tracks that don't rip up the roads.

Big rubber pads embedded in the track

[Abin Sur]

28. Hm...

You'd still have to comply with various laws requiring turn signals, brake lights, etc. I suppose it would be fall under the same laws regarding the driving of construction equipment on public roads.

What those are in specific, I have no idea...

[AtheistCrusader]

35. Sure, lights have to be visible at 300 feet

few other provisio. Hand signals if you have no lighted semaphores. Amish observe various special rules to access roads with wagons. Similar stuff for de-milled or collector vehicles in this class.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

24. Only if the are demilled

Same goes with military airplanes, foreign or domestic

[Abin Sur]

25. Spoilsports.

What's the fun in buying a Mig-23 if it doesn't have (at the very least) the original GSh-23L 23mm cannon?

It's not as if I'm insisting that it also have a couple of AA-12 Adder missiles as well, after all...

[ProgressiveProfessor]

31. Not clear what the rules would be about removing wiring to the wing stations and

the weapons control computer/displays. The gun would not be allowed to enter the country.

[BrightKnight]

49. After WWII the government disabled but permitted souvenir weapons.

They crimped barrels and removed firing pins but beyond that nobody cared. When I was a teen I had a disabled grenade on my desk.

Why would they want to destroy a kids life over something stupid like that?

[AtheistCrusader]

26. Awfully expensive bic lighter.

[Abin Sur]

30. Speaking of lighters...

It's my understanding that flamethrowers are perfectly legal to own, and are less regulated than rifles!

The trick is finding one for sale.

[Hoyt]

33. Let's hope no one finds a flamethrower, no matter how much they'd get a rush out of having one.

[AtheistCrusader]

34. Actually, they are sold all the time. They are agricultural equipment.

[The Doctor.]

39. Flamethrowers are legal.

As the only reliable defense against swarms of things, they pretty much keep that status.

Not sure how it is state-to-state, but I know most states are okay with them.

[Hoyt]

40. Well, if they are part of a weapons cache . . . . . . that's what I'm posting about.

Besides, that's the problem with gunners -- if it's "legal" that reason enough to let folks snap em up.

There are lots of things that are legal, that folks ought not to do.

[Abin Sur]

42. Flamethrower for sale

http://flamethrowerexpert.com/broke.html



To quote Syndrome from The Incredibles: "C'mon, you have to admit...this is cool!"

[Hoyt]

44. Now you've done it -- half the gunners will want to carry one or two in public concealed.

Why shoot someone, when you can burn em up?

[Abin Sur]

50. A concealed flamethrower?

What would be worn to conceal it...a circus tent?

Hm...there must be a solution. One could carry the HAFLA 34 DM incendiary device instead.



Granted, it's a single-shot, and it shoots red phosphorus instead of napalm, but it's much more concealable. Not as effective as a real flamethrower, but concealed weapons are an exercise in compromise, after all.

[MicaelS]

74. "Gunners" buy stuff partly because it's legal,

Partly because guns are fun to shoot, and partly to give a great big FU to people with your mindset.

"There are lots of things that are legal, that folks ought not to do."

That right there is reason alone enough to do it, because some people think they shouldn't.

[jmowreader]

69. I hate you, you know that?

Now I gotta find $25,000 and buy a rollback so I can get the "restorable, neither engine runs" BTR-60 that guy has on his list.

I think I would put as many American parts in it as I could, though; it wouldn't be authentic but with two small-block Chevy crate motors hooked to Turbo Hydramatic transmissions in it, it would be a HELL of a lot more fun!

[Ter]

29. Not only according to the NRA

The Constitution is a lot older than them.

[fascisthunter]

57. so then go buy yourself an nuke

...if you are going to interpret the constitution to include all weaponry.

[slackmaster]

65. Tanks are legal to own, even in California.

Educate yourself.

[jberryhill]

38. I built a rocket launcher for my car as a teenager

I could shoot Estes rocket engines from under the hood by flipping a switch on the dash.

This kid had an empty tube. WTF? There are potato cannons more "dangerous" than that.

[Abin Sur]

43. I toyed with the idea

Of attaching Estes rockets under the wings of a radio controlled airplane, and rigging up a firing system.

Alas, I was never ambitious (or energetic) enough to put the plan into action.

Did your under-hood rocket launcher just shoot off the engines themselves, or did you shoot actual model rockets?

[jberryhill]

46. Estes A engines with nose cones glued on....

...and a piece of string for a "kite tail" stabilizer.

I wasn't ambitious enough to cut grooves for fins. But I could wrap it in plastic wrap for water resistance, and the engine would just punch its way out.

Loads of fun, but I never really thought about what would happen if I was arrested.

[Hoyt]

45. Except it that kid walked down the street with it, some CCWer here would shoot him as a threat.

Ah, I thought he represented at threat to me and my family -- so I shot him, which is protected under the quasi-castle doctrine.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

61. Any actual facts to add to the discourse or are you just adlibing as you go?

[The Doctor.]

51. I did the same thing with my Huffy 54 after I saw "Delta Force"

Chuck Norris, man.

The other kids started doing it, then the parents found out. We couldn't buy model rocket supplies without a parent in the store after that.

To this day I still dream of mounting vehicular weaponry in my car.

Bumper sticker;

Vehicular Weaponry;
"Fight Rush Hour Traffic"

[jberryhill]

52. Have you looked at rocket engines lately?

http://www.apogeerockets.com/rocket_motors.asp

There's a whole world beyond "D", lol.

[The Doctor.]

54. Last one I saw was a 'EE'.

I never made it past my Titan 2-stage, which I think was only a 'C' engine type. Of course, the bike mounted, I think they were called 'Mosquitoes'? (The little 'A' or 'B' rockets. I would have needed a bigger blast-pad otherwise)

[Abin Sur]

59. The largest I ever launched used a 'D' engine.

Now, keep in mind that every time you go "up" one letter in the alphabet, the total impulse of the rocket engine doubles.

Most model rockets use 'A' through 'D' engines, but there are now engines that go all the way up to 'O'...roughly 16,000 times more powerful than an 'A' engine.

That's a serious hobby!

[alp227]

48. Novato's just north of San Rafael (after San Francisco via Golden Gate Bridge)

and the nearest bomb squad was at UC BERKELEY? Hmm. And driving while underage with a weapon? Seems to be a disturbed/troublesome teenager.

[BadGimp]

55. in Texas they would have just laughed

[slackmaster]

Unrec for posting bad journalism. This story is pure hype. No laws were broken, the cops are dumb.

:nuke:

[X_Digger]

70. +1 n/t

[Posteritatis]

73. And a whole lot of readers are just uncritically running with it, too. (nt)

[Marrah_G]

66. Someone's going to get grounded !!!!!!!!!

[left on green only]

71. "Aw Maw". "I was just going to exercise my 1st Amendment 'open carry rights' at the mall"

"I need something to impress Mary Lou with the size of my endowment so she'll go out with me."