A right to own flamethrowers? Warren mayor wants them banned

They can shoot a stream of flame 25 to 50 feet. Their proposed uses include controlling weeds and insect hives, clearing snow and ice, facilitating a controlled burn to clear brush, starting a bonfire — or just for having fun.

Two Midwest companies — one in metro Detroit, the other in Cleveland — are selling personal flamethrowers on the Internet, with prices ranging from $900 to $1,600.

But at least one Michigan official — Warren Mayor Jim Fouts — is trying to extinguish the use of the devices in his city, the state’s third largest.

“I’m very concerned about it. It’s very dangerous in a lot of situations,” Fouts said, adding that the devices could cause house fires, damage property and cause injury or death. “The pain and death it could impose is overwhelming.”

The mayor called the proposed uses “pretty specious” and “silly” and said the devices should be illegal in Michigan.

“You know something like this will be used by bad people for bad things,” Fouts said, adding that he thought it was “unthinkable” something like this would be sold to the general public.

The companies making the devices say that flamethrowers have been used for decades, that people should be able to own what they want, and that misuse can happen with any product.

“Vehicles have been used to run people over, hammers and tools have been used as weapons, knives have been employed to cause harm instead of utility, but all of these products have practical uses. Even if a product doesn’t have any measurable utilitarian purpose aside from entertainment, that’s no reason that an individual should be banned from ownership,” said Chris Byars, CEO and project lead at the Ion Productions Team, the metro Detroit company that makes the XM42 flamethrower.

“It’s how a product is used that determines punishment for the operator,” Byars added. “Simply owning a particular product should not be a punishable offense. It’s a matter of education and respect for safety.”

According to the two companies, flamethrowers are legal in Michigan and most other states — except Maryland and California, where they are either banned or have restrictions.

On the website for the Cleveland company, Xmatter, which makes the X15 flamethrower, it states that it is up to the buyer to ascertain that ownership does not violate state or local law.

Flamethrowers do not qualify as firearms under the National Firearms Act and are not currently regulated, said Corey Ray, spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. He said the bureau works with local law enforcement to monitor issues such as incidents involving flamethrowers.

Flamethrowers have been used as a weapon in warfare.

The Warren City Council first read its proposed ordinance to prohibit flamethrowers Aug. 11 and discussed it briefly Monday during a committee of the whole meeting.

According to the Aug. 11 council packet, the proposal would ban the storage, use and possession of flamethrowers in the city.

It describes a flamethrower as “any transportable device that can emit a burning stream of combustible or flammable liquid a distance of more than two feet.” It does not include open-flame cooking devices as defined by the International Fire Code; torches used for removing paint, roofing, welding or other construction project purposes or outdoor patio heaters.

The exception in the proposal is for any officer, employee or member of the Armed Forces, law enforcement, fire department or local, state or federal government who is on duty and acting within the scope of his or her employment.

Violations would be a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail, a $500 fine or both, and police or fire may seize the flamethrower.

At the Aug. 11 meeting, Councilman Keith Sadowski said the proposal should clarify a few things, such as lighters for cigars could be considered a portable flamethrower as could a hand torch to sweat pipes at home or torches to tar roofs and streets. He said he wants to make sure that there is some separation of those types of items with what is proposed to be prohibited in the ordinance.

During the committee meeting, it was mentioned that the language shouldn’t be overbroad and that legal devices be protected. It also was mentioned that the council has not received any questions or complaints about flamethrowers, though there were comments at the meeting that the city’s police and fire commissioners are concerned about the products.

The council indicated the matter was not “an immediate concern” and put it on the back burner. It did not set another date to discuss the matter.

Fouts said he received calls from a couple of residents who saw a report about a private business making the devices and talked with the city attorney about a ban. He said he is concerned about how people will use the devices, such as in a domestic dispute, holdups and other criminal acts.

The XM42, touted as the world’s first commercially available handheld flamethrower, costs about $900 and will be available in a variety of colors starting in September. It can blast fire more than 25 feet and has more than 35 seconds of burn time per tank of fuel, according to the company’s website. It weighs about 10 pounds with fuel, Byars said.

It is filled up like a lawnmower with components such as a battery and standard food service butane canister. It is machined and assembled in Warren with customized parts made from scratch, Byars said.

The company is currently filling orders made through the crowdfunding and fund-raising website www.indiegogo.com. Byars said there are more than 210 preorders, with 98% of them being shipped across the U.S. The remaining 2% are going out in Michigan, many outstate, he said.

The Ion Productions Team started with two students making PC games and expanded to a team of six friends making unique products, said Byars, an automotive engineer in Lake Orion.

“It’s just something we wanted to make a long time ago,” he said of the XM42. “I like the visual it makes. It’s just neat.”

In Cleveland, the X15 Flamethrower, which can throw flame up to 50 feet, sells for about $1,600 online, according to its company’s website. It has the appearance of a fire extinguisher and appears to attach to the user’s back. Like the XM42, it uses basic fuel and other components, such as CO2 tank.

Quinn Whitehead, cofounder of Xmatter and www.Throwflame.com, said his company’s device “is a tool just like anything else.”

“Flamethrowers have been used by fire departments, ranchers, farmers and pyrotechnicians for more than 100 years. If someone with malice in their heart wanted to do bad things, there are hundreds of more effective means which are much less expensive,” he said.

“I believe it’s a similar situation to gun control laws and gun bans in Detroit. Have these new gun regulations helped prevent crime in Detroit? Unfortunately, no. ... Criminals don’t follow laws,” he added.

Byars said people should be able to own whatever they like as long as they use it in a safe and proper manner. He said his company will be doing its best to educate the public on the proper use and safety precautions and it is not promoting the product for defense purposes.

Byars said the notion that everyone owning particular products, such as firearms and knives, are going to misuse them is “insulting and discriminatory.”

Contact Christina Hall: chall99@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @challreporter.