Five teens in Kentucky get charged with 'weapon of mass destruction'.

[Sgtusmc]

I've got mixed emotions about this one. Yes, we used to blow stuff up as a kid and do a lot of things that would be considered unacceptable today (in some communities anyway). But we didn't destroy peoples property or do something that might get somebody seriously hurt (other than ourselves). Putting an explosive device on someone's porch is not a joke.

If I was the homeowner and some damn kids set an explosive device on my porch and damage was actually made...yeah, I'd want to teach them a lesson with the law. That's for sure, but I wouldn't expect them to get a felony and prison time. Hell, at that stage of a kids life, they're going to say "screw it, I'm already a felon." What lesson is there left to learn? It should be a misdemeanor with additional stipulations such as community service or other program to educate them on how stupid and dangerous it was to have done something like that.

 

[FAL]

Wow, I didn't know that 2 weeks ago when my kids tested a paper volcano in the backyard with mentos and soda, that they were building a WMD. This is disturbing...

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[hornadylnl]

Any links to the kids twitter accounts?

 

[MadMan66]

A friend of mine was threatened with a class C felony, about 4 or 5 years ago, for making "works bombs" (aluminum foil and toilet bowl cleaner) at the University we attended. I wasn't with him that time, but another guy (also an INGOer) was with him. We used to do them all the time when we got bored in the dorms (not in the dorms though).

We would usually set them off late at night at random locations around campus. Security got called the time I wasn't with him and chased him and a few other guys back to where the dorms were. They didn't catch him, but he swiped his ID card to unlock the door, so they just checked the log of who unlocked it. He got called to the Dean's office and they said they could charge him with a C felony, but let him off with some fines instead. Very lucky for him, and nice of the University not to screw his future. We didn't have a clue it was anything close to a felony, nor did we know if they were just trying to scare him. Nonetheless, we stopped making them.

 

[Redtbird]

Two quick stories from my families' past:

My late brother told me about a kid he knew in high school in the early 50s. The kid's father owned a drugstore uptown, and the kid would help out there after school. Sometimes, for a prank, he would take an eyedropper and suck up a drop of nitric acid(?) and a drop of glycerin. Then he would walk outside and squirt the mixture out on the side walk, causing a "BANG!" like a firecracker.

One of my late uncles, back in the 20s or 30s, with another kid stole a case of dynamite from a road construction site. For a couple of months, they ran around blowing up tree stumps, hollow logs and what not. Finally they ended up with one full stick and a half stick of the dynamite. So, they decided to go fishing in one of the backwaters of a river near where they lived.

He said they fused up the full stick, lit it and threw it out over the water, and dove over the backside of the levee. And waited. And waited... Nothing happened.

No problem he said. They did the same with the half stick, and had barely hit the ground on the back of the levee when there was a helacious explosion! Water dripping everywhere. They waded into the water and found large catfish and carp and others floating on top of the water. However, they were unedible as every bone in their bodies had been smashed by the explosion.

He said it was a fun way to spend the summer tho! Good ol' Uncle Bob... I miss him and his stories.

 

[88E30M50]

That's completely ridiculous. The thing functioned as designed, yet there is no mass destruction. Sure, the kids need an ass whooping, but a class C felony is way out of line. 30 years ago, when working as a mechanic, we used to stick some dry ice in a soda bottle and roll it towards other groups of mechanics while on break. It helped us stay awake all night long. Now, we'd be branded terrorists and put on a no-fly list.

I think there must be a set limit to the amount of brain tissue that can inhabit a liberal mind. The more liberals we get, the less grey matter each of them is allotted. Sadly, they breed like rabbits so the whole lot of them keeps getting dumber and dumber, yet populates an ever increasing percentage of our society.

 

[Valvestate]

Hmm, so they got charged for what they could have done instead of what they actually did.

 

[KagA152]

We did these all the time when I was younger. Never did we attempt to damage anybodies property though. Did get caught setting off fireworks on a dead end road one time. They were doing controlled kills for cronic wasting in the preserve across the river, so they thought we were eco terrorist trying to scare the deer into hiding

 

[Lebowski]

Hmm, so they got charged for what they could have done instead of what they actually did.

(Sorry, had to make that, lol)

I mean, they did build the thing. But it's not like it hurt or killed anyone. Did some property damage, so kids should be forced to help fix/clean up the damage and if I were the kids parents they'd be taking turns mowing that lawn and doing chores at the house they did this to.

Seriously though, if that's how the law is going to be defined I'd be more worried if I had a reloading setup or tannerite laying around the house. You rent a house, bug spray people come, see your materials, alert property management, they alert police... See where I am going?

 

[92ThoStro]

Last time I made a works bomb in a 2 liter I stuck it inside one of our 40 gallon trash cans, contains the mess except for the chemical cloud. Doing it as vandalism is ridiculous.

 

[E'villeGunner]

And to think of all the sparkler bombs I helped my sons make all these years. Man oh man, some of them were worthy of being labeled WMD's! LOL

 

[ilikeguns]

I would be perfectly happy if I never heard the phase "especially since 9/11" or any of its variations ever again.

 

[singlesix]

Wonder how those that are in the "boys will be boys camp" would feel if the explosion happened on your porch. Yes I did a lot of dumb things with my friends, but we never destroyed someone'e property (our's and our parents' .. well yes).

 

[Valvestate]

(Sorry, had to make that, lol)

I mean, they did build the thing. But it's not like it hurt or killed anyone. Did some property damage, so kids should be forced to help fix/clean up the damage and if I were the kids parents they'd be taking turns mowing that lawn and doing chores at the house they did this to.

Seriously though, if that's how the law is going to be defined I'd be more worried if I had a reloading setup or tannerite laying around the house. You rent a house, bug spray people come, see your materials, alert property management, they alert police... See where I am going?

Perfect meme for that. Their lives should definitely be made hard NOW, just not for the rest of their lives. If there were injured or casualties, then yeah, add the applicable charges.

It's some pretty scary interpretation.

 

[Rhoadmar]

Wonder how those that are in the "boys will be boys camp" would feel if the explosion happened on your porch. Yes I did a lot of dumb things with my friends, but we never destroyed someone'e property (our's and our parents' .. well yes).

This shouldn't be a felony.

 

[cintile]

unbelievable. This country is so out of control.

 

[CarmelHP]

Two quick stories from my families' past:

My late brother told me about a kid he knew in high school in the early 50s. The kid's father owned a drugstore uptown, and the kid would help out there after school. Sometimes, for a prank, he would take an eyedropper and suck up a drop of nitric acid(?) and a drop of glycerin. Then he would walk outside and squirt the mixture out on the side walk, causing a "BANG!" like a firecracker.

Unlikely. The nitration of glycerine is a two step process, not a simple mixture. Could be nitrogen triiodide and your source is just mistaken about the composition. A lot of things done in the "old days" would land you in prison today.

 

[Lebowski]

Wonder how those that are in the "boys will be boys camp" would feel if the explosion happened on your porch. Yes I did a lot of dumb things with my friends, but we never destroyed someone'e property (our's and our parents' .. well yes).

If it happened to my front porch, I'd be rightfully livid and p*$$3@ off. Though I wouldn't want the dumb kids to be charged with the same level of crime that we use as justification for invading other countries. I'd say if the 'WMD' can't even blow the door down, can only break some glass, and leaves every other house on the block untouched, it's not a 'WMD' at all and simply a 'weapon of mass inconvenience'.

 

[PapaScout]

At most I would think this would be 4th degree criminal mischief or something.

 

[hornadylnl]

Did they look suspicious?