The hobbyist fireworks community is in trouble. The CPSC (Consumer
Products Safety Commission) regulates the sale of illegal fireworks. Now
they've started going after manufacturers who sell the following list of
materials to anyone lacking a BATF explosives manufacturing license.
Their reasoning appears to be: because these materials can be combined to
create illegal fireworks, yet the materials themselves are perfectly
legal, the CPSC must take it upon themselves to sue companies who sell
them to unlicensed individuals. Your tax dollars at work.
more than one pound per year of:
Sulfur
salicylate compounds
perchlorate compounds
benzoate compounds
nitrate compounds
antimony and antimony compounds
Any amount of:
powdered aluminum & alloys
powdered magnesium
powdered titanium & alloys
powdered zinc
...but only if the power size is under #100 mesh
A legal defense fund has been set up to fight this stuff:
Fireworks Foundation
http://www.fireworksfoundation.org
Here's the test case: a hobbyist fireworks company being sued by
the government:
http://www.firefox-fx.com/CPSC.htm
See also:
Consumer Prod. Safety Com. vs. hobby fireworks & chemistry
http://google.com/search?q=%2Bcpsc+%2Bfirefox+%2Bfireworks
(((((((((((((((((( ( ( ( ( (O) ) ) ) ) )))))))))))))))))))
William J. Beaty SCIENCE HOBBYIST website
billb at amasci com http://amasci.com
EE/programmer/sci-exhibits amateur science, hobby projects, sci fair
Seattle, WA 425-222-5066 unusual phenomena, tesla coils, weird sci
