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Tannerite Sports, the makers for the binary explosive Tannerite, is suing NBC for libel and slander following reports that appeared on The Today Show and a local NBC affiliate, WLEX, last week.
The Oregon-based company alleges that the reporters mischaracterized the reactive target, suggesting it is similar to bombs used by terrorists to kill Americans.
According to Mendelsohn, Drucker, & Dunleavy, P.C, the law firm representing Tannerite, NBC News is guilty of the following defamatory claims:
- On March 23, 2015, Defendant NBCU released a defamatory “report” that falsely claimed that Plaintiff’s rifle targets are “bombs for sale.”
- In a related video, Defendant NBCU’s investigative reporter falsely asserted that “I am basically holding a bomb in my hand.”
- NBCU’s report contains one or more written false statements that were intended to impugn
- Plaintiff’s rifle targets and Plaintiff’s reputation in the hunting industry.
- Plaintiff’s rifle targets are not bombs and are not well-suited for use as weapons.
- A bomb is a weapon that is illegal to make. In the United States, manufacturing a bomb requires numerous federal licenses.
- Federal guidelines allow consumers to mix and shoot Tannerite®-brand rifle targets for personal, non-commercial use as targets.
The lawsuit goes on to claim that the NBC report included statements that “were made maliciously, intentionally, and with reckless disregard for the truth,” that NBC News published “defamatory statements with malice,” and that the video and print reports ” have, in fact, directly and proximately harmed,” Tannerite Sports.
NBC has not yet commented on the lawsuit.
[H/T Bearing Arms]
Not surprising from the same people who edited George Zimmerman’s 911 calls to make them seem racist, and who actually abused explosives themselves by putting an explosive charge in a Chevy pickup truck gas tank, destroying the truck as video background for a story on a lawsuit about GM’s truck gas tanks.
You can always count on the media to make stupid remarks about something that they know nothing about.
Tannerite There is no question in my mind is an explosive Device and should be heavily regulated,
We should regulate you to a one way ticket to the statist utopia of your choice you enemy of freedom! The problem with freedom is this;to be true to freedom we must tolerate dicks like you until you initiate force against one of us.
Based on? Are you in any way certified to assess these matters, or did you pull that opinion out of a dark, smelly place around the corner from your belt buckle?
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has already regulated Tannerite and other explosives according to Federal law. Lawnmower boy was violating the law regarding high explosives, not being licensed to possess or use three pounds of anything with high explosive potential.
But almost every driver in American tools around in a vehicle which runs on sxplosions – inside its engine. We legally buy and use several dozen pounds of explosive gasoline or diesel fuel in our cars. It used to be a popular driver safety video to set a half gallon of gasoline down a rifle range or emply lot and shoot THAT – the resulting explosion demonstrating that gasoline deserves to be treated with respect. A cup of gasoline has about the same latent explosive power as a stick of dynamite.
So… before you start writing blank checks to a Federal agency which has a long history of abuse of power, you might consider that gasoline isn’t the only explosive substance in common everyday civilian use. Flour is so explosive under the right circumstances that grain elevators used to detonate with force equivalent to one-ton bombs. I lived across the Mississippi River from a grain elevator which detonated from a spark igniting wheat dust (whole wheat flour, essentially) and killed everyone in the elementary school half a mile down the road.
Iodine and ammonia also can combine to form an incredibly sensitive explosive. I won’t describe any of the other common household chemical combinations which aren’t known to every high school chemistry student, for fear of a visit from rude strangers in black Kevlar suits in the middle of the night.
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, Explosives and Common Household Chemicals, anyone?
Words have precise meanings, especially important in matters related to LAW and ENGINEERING.
“explosive Device (sic)?! No. If someone were to:
(1) MIX the contents of the two packages
(2) LOAD the mixed composition into a bomb casing, made of metal or some other high density, brittle material designed to fragment and produce a projectile threat (a lawnmower will do…)
(3) ADD A DETONATOR AND TRIGGERING MECHANISM, the damn stuff doesn’t explode on its own.
THEN it would be a destructive device. People who have a freaking clue, unlike your ignorant ass self, have looked at the product as it is sold. They determined the product is neither an explosive, nor an “explosive device”. Which can be legally sold to the unlicensed public. Which is why the Consumer Product Safety Administration, rather than Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives is in charge of regulating the product.
Fankly, anyone who understands the nature of IED construction or is slightly conversant with explosives engineering and chemistry could create a far more dangerous explosives filler from the stock carried routinely by an auto parts store, farm & garden store and/or pharmacy. But average NBC viewers would find that process boring, just like high school chemistry.
Incidentally, I have worked on several made for NBC video productions, doing special effects and weapons wrangling for their crews. NBC would do just about ANYTHING to boost eyes on their channel, it is all just advertising revenue production and stock value boosting driven entertainment. Even the news. Believe me, very little of what is offered to the public as “news” is done so out of a primary desire to INFORM. It’s all about sucking in more eyeballs and translating increased viewer numbers into CASH. Politics? Only if it means more money!
Tannerite makes great bacon bits too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=jGYCHfyOty4
Sue the hell out of NBC = National Barack Channel
And all you crybabies go join the Safety Police
Why all of the media hype all of a sudden? It’s been on the market for 20 years and no one has ever been hurt when using it in compliance with existing laws and with the recommendations on the packaging. There is already a law against using it to destroy anything. Tannerite has an age requirement of 18 or older to purchase. You have to be a law abiding citizen to own a weapon capable of setting it off to begin with. The bullet is more dangerous than an exploding targets. Tannerite isn’t flammable like black powder and a fuse won’t lite it like black powder (any felon can buy 50 pounds of black powder no questions asked, and kids as well). The targets shown in the video above weren’t even Tannerite. They were some infringing brand. The video above wasn’t even the report that got NBC sued. (Is someone twisting things here ?) The pawns who claim to be NRA members and think shooting a half pound rifle target at 100 yards is “dangerous” are making fools out of themselves. I wonder what kind of perks they received besides getting their 15 minutes of fame ? There are a whole lot of lies and half-truths that any intelligence person can see right through here.
I think there may be truth on both sides of the story. Although it may be true that black powder or fertilizer might blow up a car too the real question is would the black powder or fertilizer blow up as easily when hit with just one bullet. I may be wrong but I would think the answer would be no. With todays terrorist threats they would only to soon discover tannerite and use it if it indeed is this easy to use to blow something up. But then again the Media also has been known to help explosions along as they did in the famous Chevy truck videos when they claimed the gas tank would blow sky high but to do it they strapped explosives to the gas tanks and never told anyone what they did until they got caught red handed. Considering this former activity an independent study of this car blowing up should be conducted to see if this time the Media really is telling the truth and if they are then perhaps they may have given us a warning that should be looked into sooner than later.
to answer your question…yes a fertilizer based explosive is just as sensitive as tannerite, that is essentially what tannerite is.
Tannerite isn’t the problem, it’s the idiots that use it. Placing a 1 lb. container of Tannerite out there a hundred yards away and shooting it is absolutely safe. Putting 10 lbs of Tannerite inside an automobile and shooting it a hundred yards away, you have just created a fragmentation bomb. HELLO!!!
Rather than regulate Tannerite, how about we start regulating stupidity. Better yet, why not just print on the label… mix up a batch or two, sit them firmly on top of your head, hold them in your teeth, place them under a five gallon bucket you’re sitting on, and have someone shoot at it. Those that are stupid enough to use it improperly would be quickly weeded out, and the rest of the world could find something more important to worry about. Of course when Hollywood makes countless movies promoting stupid acts, and people everyday make countless videos promoting stupid acts, and stupid people continue to try and out stupid the last stupid person, stupid things are going to continue to happen until you weed all the stupid people out.
Tannerite is not a problem. Stupidity is a problem, and it can’t be fixed by law, or government meddling. If we were to regulate, or ban everything that the stupid have managed to negligently injure, or kill people with, there would be nothing left.
A free people have the responsibility to look after their own safety, and that of their children. Government cannot protect people from themselves, or from the stupid, the crazy, or the criminal — it can only take away our freedom to live as we please, and take care of ourselves.
fools….if you use 20 times what your supposed to use, you can do some serious damage. to blow up a car takes a LOT of tannerite and its expensive. if you really want to blow up a car, get a couple 5 gallons of gas and maybe some kerosene to mix with it. a lot cheaper and will do more damage as well as guarantee a huge fireball. what next? do we outlaw caps used in capguns? i used to scrape out the gun powder until i had enough to fill a bb container and then would touch it with a match….kinda small but impressive to an 11 yr old. also used to put fire crackers in plastic model planes when i was tired of them and set them on fire……still impressive to a 12 year old. yep, boys and their toys…never to old to make a little noise.
Yeah tannerite is is dangerous. So is hot coffee. Should we set an age limit on buying coffee at McDonald’s as well?
First this stuff is fertilizer Farmers have tons of it mix it with diesel fuel same thing.
That s what terrorist use not 500 2 lbs containers.
Eventually stupid people will learn after all they don’t drink or make bombs with gasoline .
For me its a excellent way of registering a hit at long range , for at about 800 meters it is hard to hear the steel ringer plates that one shoots at.
A bullet hole in paper or a mark on a plate can not be seen at 1000 yards with a normal 60 power spotting scope.
I for one hope the I know whats best for you people don’t ban it.
I hope the Tannerite Company likes to spend money, and lots of it cause the news segment here did nothing to slander him. They told the facts…. This stuff can be dangerous. The same by law he is required to hand out that sheet of paper warning against using large quantities of the stuff.
Can remove my recent comments. The video I saw showed no real slander that I noticed. But after reading the explanation and added descriptions about the video…. There was much more said than just this one video I am seeing now.
yep, it can be dangerous…so can gasoline, water, alcohol, diesel fuel, any firearm, a fork, a knive, tootpicks, a free mind and a free spirit. lets outlaw everything.
Lets be real here. I used it before. Its just to make a big boom. That’s it. Target practice? Please.
If you want target practice you get the sheet with the circles. This is a ONE AND DONE boom ha ha
OK – so you like shooting paper so do we limit all targets to paper only? Maybe next the media will decide the bullets we use for target shooting should be made of rubber for safety . Just like anything you do from brushing your teeth in the morning when you get up , driving to work cooking dinner in the evening, if you are not responsible in how you conduct yourself you can get hurt or hurt someone else. Lets ban toothbrushes because some kid was playing around and stuck one in his eye. Or maybe we ban motorcycles ans small cars because they are more dangerous to drive. I know we can prohibit cooking using vegetable oil because there could be a fire and someone could get burned. Anything you do in life has circumstances around it that could harm you ans YOU are responsible for your actions not someone else. For too long we have expected our government to look out for us rather than looking out for ourselves. This is overwhelmingly true when it comes to our children, parents cannot say no to their kids or discipline them when they misbehave. That responsibility they would rather leave for the government , the schools or someone else they can blame for their own mistakes
Well said
guns, alcohol, and Tannerite do not mix. Recently a child was killed when some yahoos put 25 lbs in an old refrigerator and blew it up. The shrapnel killed a small child. Two large forest fires have been reported in Utah caused by people shooting at Tannerite, despite the company’s claim that it cannot start a fire. In San Diego County, California, by application of laws other than a Tannerite ban, have labeled it as an illegal destructive device (or some such), and will arrest anyone using it, even if lawfully bought in the county. FPS Russia blew something up with Tannerite that resulted in a severe laceration to his cameraman–at 100 yards, if memory serves. I have seen a video of an old barn being completely demolished through the use of Tannerite. The fact is that the use of this binary explosive can and does lead to injury or death when used improperly. The fact is that you can’t fix stupid, and children are stupid. Is there any reason that this product should not be limited to purchase by adults?
I can’t think of any reason why you shouldn’t have to be old enough to be able to purchase the ammunition you’re required to use to shoot it with. I mean, requiring a purchaser to be at least 18 shouldn’t be asking too much, whatsoever. That way, the individual purchasing it is legally responsible for damages and/or injuries incurred during the detonation of this product.
Totally reasonable requirement, 18 years of age to legally purchase, be in possession of, or detonating this stuff!
There, so let it be written, so let it be done.
I am a NRA member and I live close to where the little boy was killed….it needs to be controlled just like a gun……This stuff will kill you……guns and alcohol do not mix and then you add this stuff, PEOPLE DIE
i always love that “I’m an nra member”, blaa blaa blaa this should be controlled and guns should be controlled.
Bad things happen with tons of objects by accident, misuse and deliberate choice.
Why not bring back prohibition because people get drunk, drive and get in accidents were people die.
In 2013 there were 518 murders that were committed by hammers. Let’s ban and control them too. At the least let’s put a sticker on them in red with a picture of a head and a arm swinging a hammer at it with the circle ban.
Stupidity unfortunately is neither painful or illegal, but uninted consequences can and should be.
Society should not be controlled or inconvinced because someone does something stupid or wrong.
Tannerite like anything else needs to be used as directed by the manufacturer. People can make tannerite at home with simple instructions on the net but it may not work or be safe. When someone takes 10 times the recomended amount and puts it inside an object like a car or fridge, common sense says something bad is about to happen. Those people are not using the product as it is made to use. It’s no different than speeding with a car or popping wheelies with bike. Use something with common sense and according to instructions and you’re fine. Don’t and you take the responsibility of what happens.
Part of the problem is people are looking for a rush and want to duplicate stuff they see on TV. I hear of people blowing up propane tanks and gas tanks, should we be limiting those items? I agree that someone should be 18 to buy this stuff and that the company should put that out as their requirement to their retailers as it needs adult supervision. But there’s a lot of “adults” with less common sense then the village idiot.
Let’s see, reasons why it shouldn’t be limited to adults (or limited at all): What penalty could you affix to this limiting law to make sure no one got hurt? How about the death penalty? Oh, wait the misuse of this already carries the death penalty: Death by stupidity. So, you pass a law with a lesser penalty and you expect what result? Hmm, sounds like stupid logic to me.
Okay so let’s say we limit it to adults and now no children can get it (just going with the Utopia idea here). So now an adult has it and no adults ever do stupid things, so we’ve just solved all the problems in the world by passing a law. Oh, wait! Adults really do stupid things and the adults while filming a video end up severing the hand from their child. Hmm guess that stupid logic didn’t work either it wasn’t the child who had it, anyway.
Okay well maybe we should just ban it altogether. CUZ WE ALL KNOW HOW WELL BANNING THINGS WORKS!
Why are people stupid? Because people are stupid. Just let them do what they want and punish them when they create victims so as to ensure that no more victims can be created by that one person. If they are the victim and end up maimed or dead, how about we just don’t pay for their family or funerals, etc. (unless someone just wants to volunteer to do so out of charity, I’m fine with that, but they would certainly make it look like consequences were not really that important).
Please stop trying to punish me for other people’s stupidity! It makes me want to fight you to the death for my rights! Stop making excuses and thinking a NEW law will trump the basic ones everyone knows to be needed, like if you kill you should be kept from ever killing again. If you steal you should be kept from ever stealing again…etc. No, instead, you feel bad when we need to punish a wrong-doer, so you, like a crappy first grade teacher, punish the whole class instead of the perpetrator, because you somehow think it will make it all better. When has this ever worked? If you are in the camp of people who want reasonable restriction for this or any form of “armament” you need to leave this country, there are many other countries who believe as you do. Go forth young man!
Say it louder so more hear it! What you doing posting my thoughts anyway.lol.
liberty or death! Enough of this moonbat BS!
This is a load of crap. NBC is loaded with girly men. If used properly, it is a ton of fun.