Another BP dealer gone...

[Fairshake]

Bob, As a former Army Grunt and Police officer with over 15 years on the streets I will have to disagree with your posting about BP.
It has not been during modern times that BP was given it's tag as an explosive. That happened well over 100 or more years ago and well before any thing by the name of DOT was known to exist.
When the Chinese use it to make firecrackers it was known to be a very low class of explosive, which it still is. If you look at any thing that has been done by any modern "TERRORIST ", the explosive used was by no means Black Powder. Good Ole Farm Fertilizer and Diesel fuel will far out class it. It would take much more BP and more trouble to set up.
The word terrorist did not even appear when BP was classed an explosive.
The mishandling by inexperienced people is what has caused the many problems with BP. When some person that is scared of a product and not given proper training in it's care, bad things happen.
If you take time to study BP you will find that all buildings that were used in it's making were on creeks or rivers and made with boards that had wide gaps in between so that when they exploded, the blast would be less intense. They hired people off the street and put them to work the same day.
I had a posting taken off this forum when I passed along some information that I had about a certain powder company. I was more or less called a liar because I refused to give my source.
Not long after that, this powder company suffered a huge explosion at one of it's factories. I rest my case on that one..
The problem is the class of explosive that BP is put into. It is no more dangerous than the smokeless if handled properly.
I have read on this and other forums where post are made telling people not to keep BP in their homes as it may blow up.
Others say it will rust your guns overnight and make them worthless. All very untrue. DOT is like all other forms of our goverment, it is run by persons who only work like robots and do as they arre told. No one has ever tried to research the lies.
Even the large BP powder companies have little worry about the sporting class of BP shooters. We are only about 2% of the total sales. The Goverment is what keeps the doors open and brings in the huge profits.
We tried to have the laws in Louisiana on BP changed and we asked the State Police to show us one case where it was used in a crime. They failed to do so. Later David 100% BP SHOOTER

[Mean Bob Mean]

It has not been during modern times that BP was given it's tag as an explosive. That happened well over 100 or more years ago and well before any thing by the name of DOT was known to exist.

Thanks Buddy.

Agreed, that was my point (see the tag I responded to), that calling BP an explosivce was not driven by a recent tag by DOT or OSHA, it has always been known to be an explosive.  My point was that law enforcement may well drive any new concerns re hazards and especially inventory discrepancies (missing cans/cases), regardless of who is doing the inspecting (that is to say, law enforcement concerns likely trickle into other department thinking after 911, I'd be happy to get a better understanding of your experience in this area).  It is not, under any circumstances, the only, the best, etc., explosive, and no, not for IDE's overseas or for sophisticated terrorists is it necessarily the preferred item.  My original training (MS in Occupational Safety) led me into training that was heavily influenced by post 911 concerns for hazards, that is why I said "Uh, OSHA is not driving the BP hazard thing."

But for homemade pipe bombs?  Yes, it is one of the ingredients of choice.  It was always the top of the list and first mentioned in my training, but I am happy to defer to your experience as it may differ.  Both you and I, I would wager, would look at any bomb making materials and indicate to those concerned the level of sophistication you were facing, no?  And BP might not necessarily push it to the expert class of bomb makers, but the point re BP is that it is easily accessed.  Would you agree with those comments?

I am not saying that there is a widespread danger from black powder pipe bombs, I am saying that law enforcement has these concerns, as you note re Louisiana.

[wyldwylliam]

There are so many things I don't understand in the whole arena of gun control and all the rest, but here's just one more.

Why is poor old black powder such a whipping boy when stuff like gasoline, propane and all that kinda stuff is available everywhere and to anyone?

[Mean Bob Mean]

There are so many things I don't understand in the whole arena of gun control and all the rest, but here's just one more.

Why is poor old black powder such a whipping boy when stuff like gasoline, propane and all that kinda stuff is available everywhere and to anyone?

Not sure but it is my experience that perception of risk can drive a lot of these issues more than actual data can.  With propane and gasoline, as examples, you can make quite a mess with those, but you can conceal a lethal black powder device probably a little more readily.  The volume of gasoline required to achieve certain goals preclude it as an efficacious explosive.  For example, you can't make an effective small pipe bomb with gasoline.  I have a friend who blew the tips off two fingers and badly damaged his hand's palm with a smallish amount of blackpowder (he made a device about the size of a cigarette lighter). 

So, Black Powder concerns have nothing to do with an insidious plot to regulate firearms, it is simply the perceived and actual risk it might pose.  

Cheers mate.

[wyldwylliam]

Good insight, thanks.