Rocket Hobbyists Prevail Over Feds In Court Case

Ellis D. Tripp writes "DC District Court judge Reggie Walton has finally ruled in the 9-year old court case pitting the model rocketry community against the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The ruling is a 'slam dunk' for the rocketry community, stating that the BATFE ignored scientific evidence and overstepped its bounds by classifying ammonium perchlorate composite propellant (APCP) as an 'explosive.' Effective immediately, the BATFE has no legal jurisdiction over hobby rocket motors, and a federal Low Explosives User's Permit will no longer be needed in order to purchase APCP motors. The full text of the Judge's decision is reproduced at the link."

No Sausage Needed

[Arthur Grumbine]

This next season of Mythbusters is gonna be AWESOME!!

These have to be said....

[SIR_Taco]

I hope this verdict doesn't back-fire on them.

OR

It seems ATF's case just blew-up in their face.

Re:Congrats!

[Anonymous Coward]

You are the sole reason the terrorists have already won! Who will weep on the day a "hobby" rocket topples a skyscraper in New York?

In other news

[Anonymous Coward]

The ATF announced that they are going to refocus on conducting raids on wacky religious leader's compounds... Because they are much better at doing that.

Re:second amendment rights

[Kell Bengal]

The 2nd amendment guarantees your right to a militia. What's needed is a new amendment to guarantee your right to a strategic arms program.

Re:Congrats!

[camperdave]

Justice that takes 9 years can hardly be called justice.

... just ice?

Re:terrorists?

[thenewguy001]

But those things have far more uses than just destructive activities. Not much use for rocket engines than to deliver a malignant payload. Do amateur rocketeers really need more powerful rockets to shoot into the sky just for kicks? Do they do anything close to scientific research, or is it just "haha lookit my rockit go!"?

Re:second amendment rights

[Anonymous Coward]

As a mad scientist, I wholeheartedly agree!

Re:BATFE is redundant

[ColdWetDog]

The BATFE is the most redundant element of the US government. The FBI covers the B, the F and the E. The FDA covers the A and the T. What's left?

Yeah, as somebody once mentioned, it's much more reasonable to have it as the name of a store rather than the name of a government agency. I'd go there...

Next up on the ATF list of banned substances:

[cutecub]

Mentos and Pepsi.

-Sean

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:second amendment rights

[Anonymous Coward]

While I support this move and people's rights to amateur firearms, what you can take down to the firing range will never match my katana. I can sneak up behind you in your house, or decapitate you as you round a corner. I can also carry it in at my side or slung over my back for ease of movement. It never runs out of ammunition. Meanwhile, DoD has spent millions trying to stop soldiers shooting the wrong people. Good luck trying to get that to work on your own. And when you do, I'll sneak into your house and take it from you. Just because it's new doesn't make it better.

Re:Congrats!

[gornzilla]

Yes, what happened to the old slashdot where you could moderate someone with a +1 for "Like the time I caught the ferry to Shelbyville. I needed a new heel for m'shoe. So I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt. Which was the style at the time. Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on 'em. Gimme five bees for a quarter, you'd say. Now where was I... oh yeah. The important thing was that I had an onion tied to my belt, which was the style at the time. You couldn't get white onions, because of the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones... "

Re:These have to be said....

[Penguinshit]

APCP sales just skyrocketed!

Re:Congrats!

[Anonymous Coward]

And, this, Kids, is why you should never, ever, drink and post.

Re:second amendment rights

[ThePeices]

"The solution to criminals with guns is citizens with guns."
And right there, that comment fully sums up the stereotype the rest of the world sees about US gun laws/ideals.

Re:Build your own Quassam at home!

[Shakrai]

Today we set to find out, whether we can really build a Quassam rocket [wikipedia.org] on a budget.

I hope they are building them on a budget. 1700+ launches for 28 dead Israeli's doesn't seem like a good ROI to me ;)

if we can successfully hit police station with it.

Why am I picturing Adam Savage saying something like "Alright, the way I figure it, we've got a 10% chance of hitting the police station, a 50% chance of it blowing up on the launchpad and a 40% chance of getting arrested! Let's do this thing!"

Re:second amendment rights

[JesseL]

Sure; after we disbanded their military, restructured their government, and engineered a retrovirus to genetically alter their genome to rechannel all their aggression into a bizarre pop culture.

Re:Congrats!

[digitalunity]

I suppose Marijuana does pose a serious risk of starting fires. It is also a leading cause of obesity among stoners.

Very dangerous indeed.

Re:Congrats!

[mrchaotica]

Seems to me that the media are the real terrorists, then. Whenever I hear hoopla on the news about "Hamas shooting rockets at Israel," I'm thinking something more like the V2, not a dinky model rocket!

Re:Build your own Quassam at home!

[rohan972]

Good luck with hitting anything with an unguided rocket,

We'll make up for that by doing volume!

Re:Congrats!

[Hoi Polloi]

Won't someone PLEASE think about the children!