Tuesday, July 6, 2010

The price of their toys: Flash Bangs. "I thought they were here to kill us."



Folks,

My ex-wife used to have a sign that read, "The only difference between men and boys is the price of their toys." (She also had one that said, "My way or the highway," so I should have known I was for the road sooner or later.)

The militarization of the police has brought us many unpleasant things, among them a propensity to use "flash bangs" in all situations, however inappropriate. Several of you faithful readers have drawn my attention to this link on the subject.

Remember, however, that the proliferation of flash bangs down to the smallest police department has put hundreds of thousands of these -- if not millions -- within the reach of the armed citizenry. And while the flash bang itself may seem a thing of limited utility in a killing war, the handy, reliable screw-in time fuse is a thing of beauty to the improvised munitioneer.

That's what you call an "unintended consequence."

"OK, Barney, you can throw your flash bang now."

8 comments:

fat baldy caver said...

OT: mike, visit bbc website, there's a nutcase in britain hunting cops. He's delusional, not bright and probably not got any plans laid, but could be informative.

regds
Fat baldy caver

MadDawg308 said...

I love how, in a mainstream media article, when they have to show an example of a "traditional grenade" they go down to the novelty store and buy a Chinese-made cast iron pineapple-style knock-off. It is incorrect for the period (most newer grenades are of M67 baseball-style), it is incorrect in material (the original pineapple hulls were forged steel, not cast iron made from melted-down engine blocks), and even the fuze is incorrect (meant for the M67 baseball-style grenades). I know I'm nitpicking, but accuracy in the details makes all the difference.

Anonymous said...

Interesting thought

Dennis308 said...

There is a 12 ga. shell, I don´t remember what it is called right now.But this shell shoots a small flash-bang out to about 200ft and then goes bang.It is used to scare birds off of crops.Some hardware stores and feed stores carry them could be useful in the right hands,or in the right way.Shooting one into a vehicle would blind and deafen anyone in the vehicle.Just a thought.


Dennis
III
Texas

Phelps said...

My favorite is how the ATF calls it a Destructive Device... all the way up until they want to throw it into someone's living room.

Happy D said...

Many flash bangs can be turned into frags by wrapping notched wire or taping nails around them.

Pat H. said...

A more detailed description of various grenades might make for a very informative Praxis.

Anonymous said...

Is there a place where flash bangs can be legally bought by the public?