LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — 9 Investigates the push by lawmakers outside of Florida to regulate a legal explosive after investigators connected the substances to several alleged terror plots.
We showed you the powerful blasts that have been blamed for serious injuries around the country, all made from an over-the-counter target explosive that you need no license to buy or use.
“There is, right now, no regulatory control in the product as it's sold on the shelf,” Lt. Ralph McDuffie with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said.
Separately, the components of binary explosives do nothing; only when they’re combined are they subject to transport regulation by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
And though it takes a high-velocity rifle to detonate, experts say the potential for danger is there.
“If it was used criminally or negligently, it could cause substantial damage,” McDuffie said.
Florida has no law requiring binary explosives to be locked up or users to be specially licensed.
9 Investigates found few states with rules in place to regulate the product.
Maryland and Louisiana banned the use of exploding targets without a specialty license.
In Pennsylvania, a proposed bill would make selling or buying exploding targets illegal, and in Indiana one lawmaker has been pushing for regulations specific to the brand Tannerite for five years.
That bill would force shop owners to lock up the product and require verification that the person buying it is at least 18, but it hasn’t seen any movement this year.
Some argue that, like anything else, regulation may not be enough to prevent misuse.
“A nefarious person can use literally anything to commit a crime.
A 5-gallon can of gas, a Ryder truck, a stone.
Anything can be considered a deadly weapon,” McDuffie said.
Cox Media Group
