Bills
| 3.23.22

Flamethrowers? Really? Act: Making Possession of a Flamethrower a Federal Crime (H.R. 4901)

Do you support or oppose this bill?

What is H.R. 4901?

(Updated February 8, 2019)

This bill — known as the Flamethrowers? Really? Act — would make it a federal crime to possess or transfer a flamethrower by including flamethrowers in the ban on machineguns. Flamethrowers would be defined as “any nonstationary or transportable device designed to ignite and then emit or propel a burning stream of a combustible or flammable substance a distance of at least six feet”. Possession or transfer of a flamethrower would be punishable by fines and prison terms of up to five or 10 years.

Exceptions to this legislation would be granted to unserviceable flamethrowers that are in museums, and functioning flamethrowers carried by qualified current or retired law enforcement officers.

Argument in favor

There are no federal laws or regulations on the books that apply to flamethrowers, which pose a public safety threat. The possession or transfer of a flamethrower should be a federal crime punishable by fines and imprisonment to keep people safe.

Argument opposed

Flamethrowers aren’t being used to commit crimes, and even if they were there are other laws like murder, manslaughter, or arson that could be used to try the accused. This is a solution in search of a problem, not everything needs to be criminalized.

Impact

People who would buy, produce, or sell flamethrowers; courts; and law enforcement.

Cost of H.R. 4901

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Sponsoring Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) introduced this bill to make it a federal crime to possess or transfer a flamethrower, writing the following on Facebook in 2016 after he introduced this bill’s predecessor:

“Last night on his show, Seth Meyers did a piece about my “Flamethrowers? Really? Act” which is a bill that would finally put some commonsense laws on the books when it comes to the sale of flamethrowers in America. Currently, only 2 states regulate the sale of flamethrowers, and no federal regulations exist of any kind (seriously). The title of the bill was inspired by the Saturday Night Live, “Really!?! With Seth and Amy” segments Meyers and Amy Poehler used to do, lampooning things that were so ridiculous, you couldn’t help but say to yourself, “Really?”

As op-eds opposing this bill in The Daily Signal and Reason note, the use of flamethrowers to commit a crime is “exceedingly rare” and the only apparent examples of their use occurred in Germany in 1964 when a homemade flamethrower was used by schizophrenic man to kill 10, and in Britain in 1995 to burn three. The Daily Signal column noted:

“If someone were to commit a crime with a flamethrower, there are plenty of federal and state laws that would prohibit and punish all of the harmful conduct that could conceivably result. So, there’s no factual or legal need for a federal flamethrower bill. Murder, manslaughter, and arson are prohibited and routinely prosecuted, in virtually every state. Indeed, they are some of the oldest crimes on the books.”

This legislation has the support of two cosponsors, both of whom are Democrats.


Of Note: Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk sold 20,000 flamethrowers at $500 each to raise money for his Boring Company infrastructure project. Flamethrowers have a variety of commercial uses, such as controlled burns for agricultural or fire protection purposes, roofers can use them when installing rubber roofing, and are used in rural areas to melt snow following massive snowfalls and to help emergency responders access locations during such snowfall.


Media:

Summary by Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: CHellyar / iStock)