I love how at the start of the video starts with “A simple google search got us 164000 entries…”
The picture they show at 40seconds is from the destructive device section of AutoWeapons.com. My guess is ABC fabricated that whole phone call and stole the picture, because I doubt anyone that works at AutoWeapons is not familiar with the ATF rules, nor would they bother risking their business on something like this.
DD1-152 – COLT M203 GRENADE LAUNCHER, SPECIALLY MADE FOR THE HK G3 7.62x51mm MACHINE GUN (ALSO KNOWN AS THE AK4)…THIS LAUNCHER IS FROM A GOVERNMENT EXPORT CONTRACT FOR THE SWEDISH MILITARY… (Source)
The lady they talked to on phone apparently said the only restrictions are:
- A buyer has to be a resident of a state that allows them to have a grenade launcher
- The buyer needs a gun permit
40mm grenade launchers are actually considered “Destructive Devices” by the ATF and they are highly regulated.
37mm copies of them are actually flare launchers so they are not regulated at all. People often refer to these as “grenade launchers” as well, even though there is no such thing as a 37mm grenade.
Comments
29 responses to “ABC News – How to get a grenade launcher”
I guess “gun permit” is the same as the $200 tax stamp, 4-6 months of red tape, and since NFA’s are a pretty well fixed market … high demand, which means big bucks.
Good point.. I never thought of “gun permit” meaning tax stamp in that case.
Hey Bubba, I have a 37mm launcher mounted under my AR, and I got a 6 round revolver style launcher. Only rule is NO SHRAPNEL rounds. It can split fire like Dragons Breath shotgun rounds which are VERY illegal in Florida where I live. The 6 round was going for upper 2K-3.5K. I snagged it last second in auction. Gas, flashbang.. etc are a bit pricey but let one loose and you will stop caring. Do research because it went about 3 times further than expected. Lucky it was rainy season.
Hey Bubba, I have a 37mm launcher mounted under my AR, and I got a 6 round revolver style launcher. Only rule is NO SHRAPNEL rounds. It can split fire like Dragons Breath shotgun rounds which are VERY illegal in Florida where I live. The 6 round was going for upper 2K-3.5K. I snagged it last second in auction. Gas, flashbang.. etc are a bit pricey but let one loose and you will stop caring. Do research because it went about 3 times further than expected. Lucky it was rainy season.
Wow, you can get a grenade launcher, whoop-de-do.
Now tell me, ABC — where do you get the grenades?
Im sure ABC could get them in bulk from Walmart if they wanted to :P
Hey Bubba, I have a 37mm launcher mounted under my AR, and I got a 6 round revolver style launcher. Only rule is NO SHRAPNEL rounds. It can split fire like Dragons Breath shotgun rounds which are VERY illegal in Florida where I live. The 6 round was going for upper 2K-3.5K. I snagged it last second in auction. Gas, flashbang.. etc are a bit pricey but let one loose and you will stop caring. Do research because it went about 3 times further than expected. Lucky it was rainy season.
I randomly caught this story when it aired. I was with a couple of people(non firearms enthusiasts), and the way ABC laid out the “facts” made it seem very scary to them. They were now under the impression that anybody could call up and order grenade launchers to their doorstep and start blowing stuff up in no time. I told them the real truth behind it: the heavy ATF regulation, tax stamps, extensive background checks, waiting periods, etc. I even mentioned that crimes committed with legally registered NFA weapons are virtually non existent to this day. After I told them everything, it didn’t seem so scary to them after all.
However, the thousands of other people that don’t know much about firearms are probably thinking the same about this story. Gotta love the “professional” journalism.
Rick,
I know, that’s scary hey? People that don’t know what is involved in obtaining a Destructive Device will just believe what any “authority” tells them. I find I am the same way with medical references I see and hear on TV…. I know nothing about medicine so I just blindly assume what the news etc.. tells me is correct, when in fact its probably greatly exaggerated most of the time too.
Too bad there isn’t some sort of non biased fact checker organization set up to filter out the bullshit in the news before the masses take it all in and form their own thoughts and opinions.
I wonder how many people in America have actually been killed by people using grenade launchers, on American soil.
Maybe a couple fatalities in domestic military training exercises. Besides that though I doubt very few, if any at all.
A.B.C.
Absolute Bull Crap.
Remember these words, because you’ll see them again.
heheh good one!
If it was so easy why didn’t ABC buy it to prove it?
Exactly!
OK one more thing that popped into mind … the people who are out looking for these things, know what a “Form 4” is, and most likely also have other various other NFA’s making registration and selling them simple, to law abiding citizens.
The real story has been stomped into the ground, and “facts” twisted to fit brainwash their “primetime” audience’s opinions … make a rebuttle video Mike, YouTube it, and spread the word. Good PR none the less!
Good idea about making a youtube video, but I’m probably not the guy for the job. Although I am confident I know the steps needed to obtain a DD, I don’t actually own one so I’m afraid I might miss something then be ridiculed on youtube. I’ve seen it happen on there before, when a guy goes and makes a video on something gun related, then forgets a relevant point and the whole community jumps on him saying something similar to “your’re just as bad as ABC!”.
YOU WANT tragedy? I had one job done by Red Jacket Firearms for almost 4K. The company has gone to hell because owner Will is charged with Sodomy and Incest. I have to sue them, I didn’t know because Discovery dropped Sons of Guns like a bad habit. I sent them back a t-shirt of theirs to head office overnight and filled with my dogs contributions, he’s 120 pounds
I just did a Google search for “nuclear bomb for sale,” in quotes, and got 97,500 results. I suppose that’s newsworthy also.
hahhah now all you need is a national forum where you can fabricate a phone call to scare people
HEH, PEOPLE R STUPID! ESPECIALLY LIBERALS…….BUY MORE AMMO…..and GRENADE LAUNCHERS!
Make a rebuttal video for YouTube that’s just as inane:
“Expose” just how easy it is to buy gasoline, a highly flamable substance that can easily burn and kill those that are set on fire by it. (OHNOS!)
Combine it with easily acquired other ingredients and get a gelled substance much like Napalm! (GASP!)
Do you need a permit to buy it? (None? NO!!)
Is the sale regulated? Can anyone buy it? (accessible to FELONS! OH MERCY!!)
Could a 14 year old walk up and buy some without anyone knowing? (OH THE CHILDREN!!)
The problem would be having to keep a straight face as you say to the camera, “Not only is it sold 24/7 through these automated pumping machines, — but you can even purchase it, — by the GALLON!” (pause for whispered audience gasp) “This is Soandso, reporting for Youtube, City- State.”
LOL :lol: You should do that snoopy… I bet it would get TONS of views, especially if it was made to look like a real news cast and managed to keep a straight face.
Watch for tons more of this drivel from the new ABC anchor, Diane Sawyer.
She is one of the premiere anti-gun bigots in all of mass media, and she’s on a personal jihad to bring about the end of individual gun ownership by any means possible.
Bearing the title of Chief Anchor at that network, she wields great power and influence over which stories are aired, (or not), and how those stories are flavored, spun, edited and presented. And you can be assured, they’ll not resemble any form of objective or impartial information.
This story was so weak as to be laughable, but sadly, it’s really only those of us in the 2A community who possess the knowledge to debunk her myths. And she won’t be giving any of us airtime to do so.
We’re going to have to take her down on 2A issues, much the same way people have taken down the glowbull worming charlatains. A constant expose’ of facts, proofs about technical matters, hand in hand with unimpeachable proofs of her facts not only being wrong, but deliberatly spun to propagandize.
Could be a good niche for some enterprizing blogger to get a spot on one of Brietbart’s sites?
Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX
Like you said, it’s a shame that lots of people outside of the 2A community buy what she is saying. For someone that doesn’t know the facts, she is definitely convincing. In the first 20 seconds of that video, she uses a few scary words, and the inflection in her voice changes along with the look on her face to complete worry. The fear in her face makes it almost look like she is going to cry or puke.
“…they’ve never had an order fail to go through.”
This shouldn’t be surprising, I’m sure both the buyer and the seller makes certain all the paperwork is in order before even trying to process it!
In reading more about this story, it sounds like this guy has the potential to be dangerous, and doesn’t need to be in possession of the weapons that he had. He is a military deserter; in my mind that’s enough to warrant barring him from owning anything more dangerous than a .22.
Regardless of all that, one of the stories I ran across said it was a 37mm Cobray grenade launcher. Obviously, 37mm is a flare, not a grenade, and the Cobray website doesn’t indicate that what they manufacture is anything other than a flare launcher. Way to go ABC. I think they might appropriately be called the “Alarmist Broadcasting Company.”
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,583912,00.html?mep
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/virginia_man_arrested_with_gre.html
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/suspicious_virginia_man_had_we.html
Wow thanks Josh. I created a new article with your findings.
[…] my previous post ABC News – How to get a grenade launcher we talked about how the media always gets their facts wrong, and time and time again manages to […]
[…] a flare launcher. Some of you might remember the ABC news debacle, where they said they could just go online and buy a grenade launcher like it was no big deal. Of course they were wrong, and blew everything out of proportion as […]