California amended its penal code a while back to make dry ice in a soda bottle — like this — illegal. See the bolded text below.
12301PC (a) The term “destructive device,” as used in this chapter, shall include any of the following weapons: …
(6) Any sealed device containing dry ice (CO2) or other chemically reactive substances assembled for the purpose of causing an explosion by a chemical reaction..
Now, possession of such a destructive device gets you a year in jail or prison, a $10,000 fine, or both, and no parole or probation either.
However, it’s the “constructive possession” of the precursor compounds that gets me:
12312PC. Every person who possesses any substance, material, or any combination of substances or materials, with the intent to make any destructive device or any explosive without first obtaining a valid permit to make such destructive device or explosive, is guilty of a felony, and is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or four years.
Yeah, they’ve got to prove intent, but still. Can we think of all the precursor compounds for various types of explosives lying about our houses? In restaurants? In our yards? I’ve got bulk sugar and flour, how ’bout you?
Not to mention the soda bottles storing our emergency water, and the dry ice for storing bulk foods.
Roberta X and Tam note a post-election push in Indiana for a Tannerite ban driven, it seems, by their their local media and LEOs — well, they should just be glad the miscreants haven’t seen California’s penal code yet.
…except the “dry ice bomb” isn’t a CHEMICAL reaction, it is a purely physical one, releasing the potential energy od phase-change in a rapid fashion. A good lawyer could successfully point that out to even the dumbest Judge.
Rivrdog – I noted that too, but I’m sure that the judge would then say, “well, you know what they meant“, and prompt a long (expensive) legal battle, aimed at people the government doesn’t like.
The Law is whatever a judge says. C.f. John Roberts.