6 replies to this topic

[Kimochi]

A couple of months back I possessed 500g of potassium nitrate, 100g sulfur, 100g of german dark, and 500g of perchlorate.

The local authorities somehow found out I had the chemicals (me being blissfully unaware that possessing such chemicals is frowned upon, even though they are publicly available), and came to my home and confiscated the items.

I think this is REALLY out of order! What do you guys think?

[BrightStar]

I think this is REALLY out of order! What do you guys think?

Sounds like bad luck... Which country are you in? Were your chems safely stored? Your ingredients could be hazardous in the wrong hands....

Edited by BrightStar, 18 October 2006 - 10:12 PM.

[Andrew]

Where do you live? Need a little more detail.

In the UK the police are not allowed to remove hazardous materials, they must ask for assistance from their particular "Scientific Services" department. Either way it would only be taken if they thought you having them posed a specific and significant threat to the public at large. And they have to have grounds to make that assumption!

It is not unlawful to own or store hazardous chemicals, in any conbination. Police are issued with guidelines to help them assess what is dodge, and if the criteria is met they call in different people. If for use as supplies in experimental manufacture of explosives/fireworks, (which is legal and what amature fireworks pretty much amounts to), the police have no grounds what so ever to confiscate. The onus is on the police to prove that you intend to break the law before they can take action to prevent it.

btw, those amounts do not constitute reason for concern under the guidelines issued to police. Except the Perc and Nitrate which is on the line. Eitherway, once the nature of their intended use has been established the guideline amounts do not really mean anything.

[hoarp001]

is that in any ammount? Could you have a two tonne bag of perchlorate in your garage (i dont, im just using it as an example)

[BigG]

Technically, they should not be able to remove something that is kept safely and responsibly. However, they might question what the chemical is used for – and I suspect will want a good answer. The main problem with perchlorates (at least potassium and ammonium) is that they are used almost exclusively for the explosive industry. So there is really no excuse in holding them is large quantities. I know a few people that – when registering explosive storage, took the opportunity to include potassium perchlorate on the list and it was approved. The Djinn already mentioned that being honest about it is probably the best way – worst-case scenario they say no.

Please lets not restart the discussion about explosive storage here. It is covered on another thread.

[Andrew]

is that in any amount? Could you have a two tonne bag of perchlorate in your garage (i dont, im just using it as an example)

There was a recent case of some wannabe terrorists in London recently, they had a couple of tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate in a garage. I know quite a bit about he case and how they were caught and how evidence was gathered against them. They were a bunch of idiots and were planning to kill hundreds if not thousands of people. The answer to your question is yes, you can keep just about any amount of anything, but you do risk being drawn parallel with people like I described, if of course you have no decent answer to the question of "what do we 'ave ear then?"