New York Senate Passes Ban on Recreational Flamethrowers

The New York State Senate passed a bill that will criminalize possession of recreational flamethrowers, citing one of Elon Musk’s companies as the reason for the bill’s passage. Last year, The Boring Company sold their entire stock of 20,000 flamethrowers in less than a week, prompting some in the New York legislature to take action. “Elon Musk’s Boring Company released a new flamethrower...without any concern to the training of the purchasers or their reasons for buying. Allowing the general public to access this type of machine is extremely problematic. These dangerous devices should not be sold to civilians, and use needs to be restricted to trained professionals,” said state Sen. John Brooks, a Democrat, who sponsored the legislation. He said that he originally introduced the bill at the request of the Nassau County Fire Commission, whose emergency medical personnel were concerned about potential accidents. California introduced a similar bill in 2018, but it died in committee. In order to get around bills like this, in 2018, Musk tweeted “Due to recent regulatory/customs rules enacted to inhibit transport of anything called a Flamethrower, we have renamed our product: “Not a Flamethrower.” The bill, however, defines a flamethrower as “a device capable of projecting burning fuel a distance of at least three feet,” but does not ban “historical flamethrowers, flamethrowers used for agricultural or construction purposes or any flamethrower lawfully acquired and possessed prior to the effective date of this section.” The felony sentence imposed on those who possess flamethrowers for recreational purposes would carry a maximum four years in prison. The New York House has not voted on the measure yet. [CNBC; Gizmodo; CCN; NBC New York]

OREGON LEGISLATURE | The standoff between Oregon Senate Republicans and state Democrats continued this weekend, as legislators cancelled a floor session due to a possible right-wing “militia threat.” The Republicans originally walked out last Thursday in an effort to stall a vote on a proposed cap-and-trade emissions bill, prompting the governor to order state police after them. Senate President Peter Courtney and Democratic House Speaker Tina Kotek, meanwhile, released a statement condemning state Sen. Brian Boquist, who implied he would shoot any police officer who attempted to bring him back to the capitol, saying his words encouraged the threats from local militia groups. "Law enforcement officers put their lives on the line every day in the name of protecting Oregonians and should never be subject to these kinds of threats, let alone from a public official. His comments have created fear among employees in our workplace. We will always defend free speech and welcome frank policy discussions, but threats like these are unacceptable,” they wrote. But Republican state Sen. Herman Baertschiger, Jr. said that Democrats’ concern was overblown. “Democrats were reactionary to rumors and lacked the courage to face...Oregonians by closing the Capitol building on Saturday,” he said. [KTVZ; Willamette Week; The Oregonian]

PROTECTED BIKE LANES | Four mayors in Pennsylvania wrote to the state legislature urging them to pass legislation that would allow for the construction of protected bike lanes in the state. Under current state law, cars must be parked within 12 inches of the curb, prohibiting local governments from installing lanes next to the curb, pushing parked cars further out to create a protective barrier between bikes and traffic. Though similar bills targeting this limitation have been introduced in both the House and the Senate, neither has been brought for a full vote. The mayors of Harrisburg, Lancaster, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh penned a joint letter to the transportation committees of both chambers, urging them to work more quickly. “Protected bicycle lanes encourage a safer experience on our roads for all riders, and parking protected bicycle lanes have consistently been demonstrated as a best practice in cities across the country. Delay in passage will threaten these important projects and add unnecessary expense,” the letter reads. The House Transportation Committee Minority Chair, Democrat Mike Carroll said that he hopes the bills will be brought to a vote this week. “I'm a believer that we should give local governments the ability to do what's best for their community. And if the city of Philadelphia or any of the other cities in our state think that having a protected bike lane is a smart alternative to having bicycles out in traffic, I support that,” he said. [The Patriot-News; ABC 27]

REPORTING LITTER | The Arizona Department of Transportation has introduced new ways for drivers to report people who litter on the highway. If littering is seen, drivers can call 511, the state’s traveler information line, or use a new site called Litter.AZ.gov, to report the license plate, type of litter, location, and time of day. The state will send the litterbug a reminder that littering comes with a $500 fine if they are caught by law enforcement, and a bag which they can put in their car for disposing of future waste. In a press release about the new program, the state’s DOT said the intention is “public awareness rather than law enforcement,” and also encouraged people to report litter even if they did not see a license plate, because while “letters can’t go out in those cases, knowing where and when the littering occurred is helpful.” The move is part of the state DOT’s existing “Keep Arizona Grand” program, which issued 1,300 littering letters in 2018. The DOT estimates that the annual highway accumulation of 1.2 million pounds of litter costs taxpayers about $4 million each year to clean up. [KTAR; Apache Junction Independent]

HUMAN TRAFFICKING | Detectives in Hillsborough County, Florida, which includes Tampa, recently concluded an investigation that resulted in 85 arrests for charges of human trafficking. The investigation targeted various locations, including motels, strip clubs, adult bookstores, and massage parlors. Sheriff Chad Chronister lead the group, consisting of the Special Investigations and Crime Investigations Divisions, in locating victims of human trafficking and identifying the means by which they were brought into sex trafficking rings. "Human trafficking can happen in any community and to victims of any age, race or nationality, as our detectives have seen throughout the course of this investigation. We realize that many victims are afraid to come forward, so we're actively working to find them and committing resources to targeting those who engage in human trafficking,” said Chronister. [FOX 13; Spectrum Bay News; Bradenton Herald]