Patch Poll: Should Michigan Ban Personal Flamethrowers

A Metro Detroit company, Ion Productions Team, would have to move out of state if Michigan bans the manufacture, sale and possession of personal flamethrowers, as a state representative has proposed. (Screenshot via YouTube)

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A southeast Michigan lawmaker wants to outlaw personal flamethrowers that can shoot streams of flame up to 50 feet in the air.

State Rep. Sarah Roberts (D-St. Clair Shores) introduced legislation to ban the manufacture, sale and possession of flamethrowers, which manufacturers — including the Metro Detroit-based Ion Productions Team — defend the personal flamethrowers as the latest device in gardeners’ artillery to resolve some of their most bedeviling problems.

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They reason their customers shouldn’t be punished for owning a flamethrower just because someone might commit bedlam with the device.

“Vehicles have been used to run people over, hammers and tools have been used as weapons, knives have been employed to cause harm instead of utility, but all of these products have practical uses,” Chris Byars, CEO and project lead for Ion Productions, which makes the XM42 flamethrower, told the Detroit Free Press.

Last month, Warren Mayor Jim Fouts said he was “very concerned” about how flamethrowers might be used, and said their use could create dangerous situations.

“Obviously, we’d have to move out of state,” Byars told the Free Press.

Roberts said a constituent in St. Clair Shores approached her about the legislation after seeing videos of them in use.

“I see no real, practical purpose for these devices,” Roberts said, doubting their practical use and calling the devices “an accident waiting to happen.”

So far, only Maryland and California have banned or restricted their use.

Byars said he’s not surprised by the pending legislation, and said that although he could understand restricting their use near dwellings, he doesn’t think the Legislature should “infringe on what others have because of fear.”

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