RESTRICTIONS ON CHEMICALS COMMONLY USED IN MAKING ILLEGAL EXPLODING FIREWORKS (for instance M80's and aerial salutes)
Federal regulations require us to examine all orders which could possibly be used for constructing M80's and other illegal exploding fireworks. If you are trying to order any of the chemicals commonly used in making these products, here is what that means to you.
LEGALITY
The US Federal government prohibits the sale of "kits or components intended for use" in making illegal exploding devices, unless the purchaser has an ATF Explosives Manufacturing license. What does this mean? Here are our definitions of these terms.
"KITS"
Any combination of chemicals, fuse, tubes, or other items which are most likely going to be used to make illegal exploding devices. Kits are easy for us to detect. For instance, if you order fuse, tubes, plugs, potassium perchlorate and dark aluminum, your order is automatically declined. If you try to spread an order for the various components of an M80 out over several orders, we will still detect it, and automatically start to decline your subsequent orders. So, buying one item in one order, and the other items in subsequent orders is a no-no. We'll catch that and refuse your order. On the other hand, this does not mean that you cannot ever buy the various items that go into an M80; almost all those components can be and are used in legal fireworks. Indeed, if it is clear to us that you are making a variety of types of legal fireworks, then you will probably be able to purchase just about anything you want.
"COMPONENTS"
Many of the chemicals and other components used in making illegal exploding devices can be used in other, legal fireworks. We use our own experience in watching the attempted buying patterns over the years of thousands of attempted M80 makers. To comply with BATF and Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) regulations, first-time customers of ours who want to buy flash-grade aluminum are refused automatically.
"ILLEGAL EXPLODING DEVICES"
Typically, this means M80's, cherry bombs, silver salutes, firecrackers, aerial salutes, rocket headings, and other flash-powder based items. Basically, unless you have an ATF Explosives Manufacturing license, if these are primarily the devices you want to make, the Federal regulations administered by the CPSC prevent us from selling you the components necessary to make those devices.
FIRST ORDERS
Skylighter's policy is to refuse initial orders from anyone who either appears to be making illegal exploding devices, or whose first order contains flash-grade aluminum. So, if this is your first order with us, Skylighter will not sell you flash-grade aluminum on your first order. This is because our experience is that most people ordering flash-grade aluminum in their first order clearly intend to use them for making illegal exploding devices (M80's or similar devices).
SECOND AND SUBSEQUENT ORDERS
When you enter an order on this web site, before we accept it, we examine all of your previous orders. Regardless of what you ordered in your first order, all of your orders are taken into consideration as if they were one order. So, more than likely, your orders for flash powder components will probably be refused. If a high percentage of the items you order can be used in making illegal exploding devices, your order will be refused.
IF YOUR ORDERS ARE DECLINED, THREE STRIKES, YOU'RE OUT
Your orders are all screened by software on our website and by human beings here at Skylighter.
Some orders placed on our website are automatically declined there. You can attempt to place an order on our website as many times as you want. You will not be penalized for that. Indeed, we understand that this may be the only way you can determine whether your order will be allowed or not.
But any order you place with us which is subsequently declined by a human being IS tracked and recorded. When we decline any of your orders, your record in our computer is red-flagged as a probable illegal explosives maker. If three of your orders are declined, you will be prevented from ever ordering anything, legal or otherwise, from Skylighter.
Again, remember that if your order is refused or blocked by the shopping cart, this does not count against you. There is no penalty to you for putting items in your shopping cart to see what you will be allowed to buy.
EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULES
We are fully aware that in some circumstances, these rules may unfairly penalize somebody, somewhere. Please let us know if this is the case with you. If you are in a company, school, or government organization needing restricted chemicals, send us a purchase order on your letterhead and then follow it up with a call. We will do everything in our power to fulfill your order
Keep in mind that we have been in this business a long time. We have heard every imaginable story about why someone needs flash-grade aluminum for their own particular project. Not a day goes by that someone doesn't try to convince us that they need dark aluminum for their gunpowder. There is no faster way to be permanently stopped from ever ordering anything from Skylighter than by lying to us.
"BUT THE ATF (OR ANY OTHER AGENCY) TOLD ME I DON探 NEED A LICENSE..."
Probably true, too. But the ATF is not the regulatory agency these rules were designed to satisfy. These rules are primarily designed to keep you and us in compliance with CPSC reg's.
We strongly suggest you not waste your time trying to get ATF assistance in this matter. Nor will calls to CPSC or any other agency help. Until and if the regulations change, we all simply have to live with them.
WHY ARE THESE RESTRICTIONS SO TIGHT?
Simple. To stay in business. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has investigated this company and many others to determine if they are helping people make illegal exploding devices. In most cases, CPSC has succeeded: in either forcing those businesses to close, and/or put their owners in prison, or catastrophically restricted their ability to do business. The only reason Skylighter is still in business is because we continue to comply with all laws and regulations which we operate under.
Is your business important to us? Of course. Is it worth risking prison or the loss of our business and jobs? Nope.
Don't even think about trying to get around these Federal regulations and our rules designed to comply with them.
SO, HOW CAN YOU BUY WHATEVER YOU WANT?
Also fairly simple. Just apply for and get an ATF explosives manufacturing license. It's a lot easier and less expensive than you may think. Once you have that license, you can buy anything you want from us, with absolutely no restrictions.
