BATFE to ban common AR15 ammo.

[mwilkins]

Once upon a time, I used to possess a LEUP. To those who don't know LEUP = Low Explosive User Permit. My hobby at the time was launching 200+ lb projectiles 20+ thousand feet up in the air. The motors to do this were made from APCP = Ammonium Perchlorate Composite Propellant or Solid Rocket Motors. Depending on the burn rate desired dictated what type of fuel you mixed in with the AP. These would normally be Aluminum, Magnesium, various Iron Oxides and several other energetic chemicals. Any way to get to the point, the ATF took it upon themselves to try and classify APCP as an explosive. Senator Enzi at the time stood on the side of the Hobbyist. Two rocketry organizations file suit against the ATF. Those two groups were the TRA - Tripoli Rocketry Association and NAR - National Association of Rocketry.

Just to show how stupid the ATF is and how far their heads are up their assess, the ATF tried to set burn rates for at which a rocket motor could burn but yet wanted to classify it as an explosive. It was proven that plain ordinary white bonding paper actually has a burn rate faster than APCP. Also for a compound that the ATF was trying to classify as an explosive, they never could answer why NASA continued to use solid rocket motors to launch men into space if the propellant by design was to explode. On another instance, the ATF tried to launch model rockets out of the back of a van in an attemp to show that the model rockets could be used to bring down an airplane. Well they proved themselves wrong again as all they accomplished was setting their van on fire in the process.

Needless to say, the ATF got beat in the courts. They could not classify APCP - solid rocket motors as explosives. So what did they do, they went after the igniters. To light most all APCP motors, it requires an electric match to do so. Although you can purchase the chemicals and manufacture an electric match on your own, the ATF just went about another way to make it more difficult for people to enjoy their hobby because of the mud on the ATF's face. If people are not carefull and pay attention to what the ATF is doing, they will just find another way to put their feet on the throats of law abiding gun owners.

For you viewing pleasure, here is a pic of the last projectile that I built. it was 12" in diameter, 20' tall and weighed in at over 230 lbs on the pad. Rocket, Motor and launch pad were all made by my hands in my garage. Took over a year to build and could achieve altitudes over 26K feet.

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