I may be picking up a couple of Yugo M68 practice grenades this weekend, the kind that can be shot from their M70 series AKs or 59/66 SKS rifles.
While they don't qualified as "explosive weapons" under Penal Code section 46.01(2), I am curious as to the legal restrictions of firing them as (3) of that same reference defines a "firearm" as "any device designed, made, or adapted to expel a projectile through a barrel by using the energy generated by an explosion or burning substance or any device readily convertible to that use."
Therefore, would the use of a Yugo AK or SKS to launch a dummy grenade using blank ammunition be the same as shooting regular ammo (i.e. could only be done at location where shooting is legally allowed)?
I ask because I see videos of people shooting these things in their back yards or what appear to be high school football fields. I don't have plans to do either, but I don't want to get in trouble for firing one in a vacant field.
My other concern would be if someone in the law enforcement would/could consider these to be "hoax bombs" as defined by 46.01(13) as "a device that: (A) reasonably appears to be an explosive or incendiary device; or
(B) by its design causes alarm or reaction of any type by an official of a public safety agency or a volunteer agency organized to deal with emergencies." To a knowledgeable individual it would be clear that these are just practice devices, but to an uninformed person it could be mistaken as a real grenade!
Thoughts?
Cheers! M2
While they don't qualified as "explosive weapons" under Penal Code section 46.01(2), I am curious as to the legal restrictions of firing them as (3) of that same reference defines a "firearm" as "any device designed, made, or adapted to expel a projectile through a barrel by using the energy generated by an explosion or burning substance or any device readily convertible to that use."
Therefore, would the use of a Yugo AK or SKS to launch a dummy grenade using blank ammunition be the same as shooting regular ammo (i.e. could only be done at location where shooting is legally allowed)?
I ask because I see videos of people shooting these things in their back yards or what appear to be high school football fields. I don't have plans to do either, but I don't want to get in trouble for firing one in a vacant field.
My other concern would be if someone in the law enforcement would/could consider these to be "hoax bombs" as defined by 46.01(13) as "a device that: (A) reasonably appears to be an explosive or incendiary device; or
(B) by its design causes alarm or reaction of any type by an official of a public safety agency or a volunteer agency organized to deal with emergencies." To a knowledgeable individual it would be clear that these are just practice devices, but to an uninformed person it could be mistaken as a real grenade!
Thoughts?
Cheers! M2
