(Newser) – In Georgia, it's completely legal to pack objects full of the explosive Tannerite and shoot at them, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea, police said after a man had his leg severed by an exploding lawn mower. Police say 32-year-old David Pressley and friends filled the lawn mower with 3 pounds of the explosive material in the woods of Walton County, and his left leg was severed below the knee by shrapnel after he shot at the mower and blew it up. Video obtained by 11Alive shows Pressley firing at least 20 shots from a semi-automatic rifle at the mower before it blows up. "I blew my leg off," he can be heard shouting after the blast.

Walton County Sheriff Joe Chapman tells Channel 2 that Tannerite is used for target practice and that you're supposed to put a small amount of it into a target and fire from at least 100 yards away, not fire at several pounds from just 25 feet away, as Pressley and his friends were apparently doing. Pressley is recovering in an Atlanta hospital. 11Alive notes that despite warnings from the makers of Tannerite, videos of people shooting at up to 100 pounds of Tannerite have been big hits online, and Pressley was apparently trying to make a similar video with the lawn mower. "Yes, it is legal, and no, we can't make people stop doing it. But why, folks, just why?" the sheriff's office said in a Facebook post. (This puppy's collar triggered an explosion that destroyed part of its owner's home.)

