YouTuber ProSyndicate may be in trouble with the police, who have told him they want to confiscate his “Not A Flamethrower.” Tom Cassell is a popular YouTuber and Twitch streamer, who has nearly 10 million subscribers on his channel ProSyndicate, and another 2.6 million on his vlog channel, Life of Tom, and he was one of the lucky 20,000 people who got their hands on the “Not A Flamethrower” a product of Elon Musk’s The Boring Company.
The product is called “Not A Flamethrower” in an attempt to circumvent international customs laws. However, after Cassell’s local authorities start seeing the product show up in his YouTube videos, they began to take interest. He posted to Twitter that police had knocked on his door, and that they were planning to confiscate the weapon. But, Tom wasn’t home at the time, and a friend took that photo of the police through the window.
When Tom returned to the UK, he found out that he’s in violation of Section 5 of the firearms act, which prohibits the ownership of any weapon of whatever description designed or adapted for the discharge of any noxious liquid or gas.
Ah yes, the good old U.K., where not anyone with opposable thumbs can go out and by a flame-shooting Super Soaker.
Update regarding the @elonmusk @boringcompany 'Not a Flamethrower'
Had a phone call with the police and they've said it's in breach of,– Section 5 firearms act. Section 5.1b.
(b)any weapon of whatever description designed or adapted for the discharge of any noxious liquid, gas.— Tom (@Syndicate) August 16, 2018
In a Twitter thread, he said he wants to stay on the right side of the law, but doesn’t want to make any decisions until he can get in touch with his lawyer, who’s currently in Africa, and in a vlog, he talked about how the police weren’t really familiar with his channel or where he got the flamethrower. They just knew he had this weapon and wanted to take it away.
Tom’s major point through all this is that the device isn’t what you would typically think of as a real flamethrower. It’s really just a modified airsoft gun fit with a propane tank and a blow torch So anyone with a little bit of money and time could make one of these on their own with readily-available, legal products.
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Tom said he could do this himself, if he wanted. But he wanted the “Not A Flamethrower” specifically because it’s an Elon Musk Collectors Item. He told Kotaku: “Elon Musk, a billionaire, gets bored and decides ‘I’m gonna sell a flamethrower!’ Having that ability to just say, ‘I’m gonna do this today’ and then doing it is amazing, and for that I tip my hat to Elon.”
He also said he’s sealed up the product for the time being and that he’s trying not to waste the police’s time. Elon Musk himself probably won’t be coming to Cassell’s aid any time soon. He’s got his own problems stemming from attempts to take his public car company Tesla private.
And a recent New York Times profile that portrayed Musk as sad and aloof didn’t help matters. So, as much as Cassell might admire Elon Musk for developing a cheap flamethrower, he probably doesn’t want to emulate him so much at the moment.
-What do you guys think? Should Tom Cassell have to give up the “Not A Flamethrower”? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter at @WhatsTrending
