It can shoot fire 50 feet into the air and it's completely legal to buy online. Flamethrowers are legitimate tools for ranchers, but online retailers are increasingly marketing them as fun toys nearly anyone can own.
According to one popular retailer, ThrowFlame.com, consumers can buy a flamethrower for under $2,000. There are green ones, gold ones and one retailer sells one to look like a shark. Need napalm mix? No problem. It sells for $125.
Capt. Andy Reardon with the Austin Fire Department thinks owning a flamethrower is a recipe for disaster.
"I cannot think of a single logical reason why somebody needs a flamethrower. I can see the novelty aspect of it, but as far as a practical use of it, I cannot see a single one that's outs there," said Reardon.
There are no state or Austin city laws on the books in Texas regulating who can own a flamethrower or who can sell them. Maryland has banned them. In California, residents must have a permit to own one, which includes a background check.
Some parents like Kassey Baines think Texas should regulate flamethrowers. Her 10-year-old son plays games where characters use flamethrowers. After seeing how easy it was to purchase online, she says it doesn't make sense to her.
"If you have to have one to get a gun, why wouldn't you have to have one to get a flamethrower?" asked Baines.
Quinn Whitehead operates ThrowFlame.com outside Cleveland, Ohio. The 20-year-old entrepreneur said most of his sales come from Texas.
"Definitely Texas, significantly. Farmers, ranchers, that sort of thing," said Whitehead. He wouldn't disclose sales or how many he's sold.
Whitehead said sales took off after he posted a video using one his flamethrowers online in 2013.
"Flamethrowers are something that most people dream of owning or you know fantasize, you always see it video games or movies that sort of thing. So, I think it's just people didn't know they could own one," he said.
Quinn claims whoever receives the flamethrower by mail, must be 18-years-old and have a photo ID at the time of delivery.
Baines said kids are smart enough to get around it.
"I think, he could have it sent to a friend who has a high school brother," Baines said.
