Americans are rushing to buy flamethrowers before they become illegal

How can you live without a flamethrower? Said no one ever.

But surprisingly many Americans are buying these devices for personal use. A handful of companies like Ion Productions Team and X Matter designed and produced personal flamethrowers that the general public can purchase for anything between $900 and $1,599. While the devices have officially been banned by the Inhumane Weapons Convention, which the United States signed in 1981 and that forbids incendiary weapons, the agreement only refers to their military use between nation-states. This means that as long as you don't use it against another country, you are free to set your own backyard on fire.

As a spokesman with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms told Ars Technica, "these devices are not regulated as they do not qualify as firearms under the National Firearms Act." Concern is being raised over the possibility of the devices falling in the wrong hands. While there are no federal regulations on possession, manufacture, sale of use of flamethrowers, California requires a permit and Maryland bans them completely. There are no state-level laws prohibiting them.

A discussion on prohibition recently started over the controversy, but this seems to have boosted the business even more, as the CEO of Ion Productions Team claimed to Ars:

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