We know ALL ABOUT fighting stupid, paternalistic bills in California. (Asm. Miguel Santiago loves 'em.) Looks like we'll have one more bill to fight this year. All law-abiding people should be able to buy, possess Elon Musk's awesome products! 

Via The Verge:

Elon Musk’s plan to sell 20,000 people a $500 flamethrower branded with the name of his Los Angeles-based tunnel-digging venture, The Boring Company, has hit a roadblock. In a statement issued today and published on Twitter by Los Angeles Times report Liam Dillon, California Assemblyman Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles) said he intends to introduce legislation that would prevent Musk’s company from selling the flamethrower to the public, at least in the state of California.

The legality of the weapon in the other 49 states of the US remains an open question. Yet Musk has confirmed on Twitter that the gun does not meet the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ definition of an illegal flamethrower, which means The Boring Company’s model does not emit a flame larger than 10 feet in range. So California may have to establish specific guidelines independent from federal regulation. Musk has suggested that the flamethrower would be used in some official capacity for The Boring Company, but it’s not clear at the moment what that is.

“The state of California and the county and city of Los Angeles have entrusted Mr. Musk to help alleviate a real public policy problem here by executing a tunnel under the city to help alleviate traffic,” writes Santiago, commenting on the city of Los Angeles’ ongoing relationship with The Boring Company. The company has received permits to build a two-mile test tunnel in the Culver City suburb, where Musk’s private spaceflight company SpaceX is headquartered. “This deviation feels like a slap in the face.” Santiago at first thought news of The Boring Company’s flamethrower sale was a joke. The bulk of his statement, which includes a Spider-Man reference, lays out his argument against handing the public a fire-breathing firearm:

Like most Americans, I am in awe in of Mr. Musk’s genius — the brains behind Tesla, PayPal, SolarCity, and Space X. But as President Truman and Stan Lee have taught us all, ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ There are many times in which technology and inventions benefit society, but are not made available to the public. We don’t allow people to walk in off the street and purchase military-grade tanks or armor-piercing ammunition. I cannot even begin to image the problems a flamethrower would cause firefighters and police officers alike.

Read more here.