Explosive-Laden California Home To Be Destroyed

wiredmikey writes with this snippet from an AP report: "Neighbors gasped when authorities showed them photos of the inside of the Southern California ranch-style home: Crates of grenades, mason jars of white, explosive powder and jugs of volatile chemicals that are normally the domain of suicide bombers. ... Now authorities face the risky task of getting rid of the explosives. The property is so dangerous and volatile that they have no choice but to burn the home to the ground this week in a highly controlled operation involving dozens of firefighters, scientists and hazardous material and pollution experts. ... Some 40 experts on bombs and hazardous material from across the country and at least eight national laboratories are working on the preparations. They have analyzed wind patterns to ensure the smoke will not float over homes beyond the scores that will be evacuated. They have studied how fast the chemicals can become neutralized under heat expected to reach 1800 degrees and estimate that could happen within 30 minutes, which means most of the toxins will not even escape the burning home."

Jakubec, a 54-year-old software consultant

[A beautiful mind]

Ah no worries, it was just a bit of harmless fun and it hurt noone.

Wait, what's that file on his computer? He planned on setting up a wikileaks mirror? TERRORIST!!!

Re:Home made nitro is scary stuff

[dondelelcaro]

This is also a good property for remote mining: You plant your explosive charge and then bury a string of explosives 10 feet apart apart to the staging area.

Almost no one uses nitroglycerin for mining any more. The stuff is so horribly unstable that you could easily set it off just by burying it, it's expensive, and it's highly toxic. Most mining and other blasting uses ANFO coupled with a high explosive primer instead.

The government IS causing the loss of value

[SuperKendall]

The house still has value, if the contents would be removed.

Instead of removing them and leaving the house standing, the government CHOSE to burn down the structure. They are in fact the ones who are causing the loss of value by destroying the house.

If they took explosives out by robot and something exploded, then the tenant would be the one who caused full loss of value.

As it stands the tenant is only really responsible for the dangerous content, I don't think you could sue him for destroying the house.

Re:why?

[zippthorne]

200 years ago, people could buy cannons, though. And they did. Privately owned cannons were the majority of the artillery fielded by the fledgling navy and continental navy, so I really fail to see why howitzers should be a problem today.

The main thing keeping people from buying howitzers is the same thing keeping people from buying cannons 200 years ago: A giant milled tube of steel isn't exactly inexpensive to manufacture, and then you have to find a place to keep it.

Re:Owner?

[afidel]

Nope, at the federal level you just need a Type-10 FFL ($3000/3 years) and have to pay for your Special Occupational Tax Stamp at $500/year and you can avoid the making tax for DD's. Also there is no background check beyond the normal NICS gun ownership check and it requires no justification. Local and state laws may further restrict you but that's a per jurisdiction situation so way to complex to get into.

Re:why?

[goosesensor]

Looong story short: Random guy in a parking lot clames my dad's classic Toyota Land Cruiser was stolen from him 10 years ago. Police confiscate. Within just over a week guy is discredited and found to be full of it. Car is still wrapped up in bureaucracy. Dad manages to piss off the "stolen car task force" [police] with his (understandable) frustration. Appears in court and is arrested on the spot on felony charges related to some technicality of VIN registration/engine/frame code mathcing etc (totally obscure technicality). Spends night in jail. Changes are thrown out at next court date. Car is never returned and instead father has to pay shop rate to have any components wanted removed before it is CRUSHED. Cop responsible for the bullshit kills himself 1.5 years later because he is discovered to be involved in some huge scandals. Go figure.

Modded funny?

[Vainglorious Coward]

Using bears to patrol your illicit operation is no joke [www.cbc.ca]

Re:Owner?

[lwsimon]

You can get around the law enforcement approval by incorporating as an LLC or establishing a trust.

While the form asks for a reason, I've never heard of one being rejected because of it. In fact, I've seen a Form 4 returned with the stated reason being "Zombies", approved. It was a joke, but they approved it.

More difficult will be finding a manufacturer willing to sell grenades to you. Plus the $200 tax on each one.