Land mine "donated" to Good Will
Someone put a land mine in a Goodwill donation box at an Arvada, Colorado strip mall. A bomb squad dealt with the mine; it's unknown whether it was live or not. According to the Associated Press, the package, a "rectangular, olive-green box with the words 'Front Toward Enemy'" worried Goodwill workers when they saw it. "Land mine left in Goodwill donation box"
UPDATE: In the comments, folks have correctly identified the device as a Claymore Antipersonnel Mine.
UPDATE: In the comments, folks have correctly identified the device as a Claymore Antipersonnel Mine.
Previously:
- Boing Boing: U.N. landmine commerical won't air in US.
- Miss Landmine Angola -- beauty contest for landmine survivors ...
- Boing Boing: BBC News producer, war landmine victim, blogs ...
- Landmine-shaped frisbees used in awareness campaign - Boing Boing
- Umbrella base mistaken for landmine in Wisconsin - Boing Boing
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Claymore?
Yeah, definitely a claymore and not a landmine.
And not the good middle-ages-roleplaying kind of claymore, either.
Back when I used to make them for a living, claymores were certainly considered land mines.
They aren't much use against submarines or frigates.
Seems like a simple mistake -- maybe he meant to donate it to the Salvation Army.
That's a ways away from Fort Carson.
Have you seen the kinds of penalties that can be associated with selling landmines? It's much safer to just donate them and get the tax writeoff.
have they experimented with water-tamping for these at all? I also seem to remember something about water being recently discovered to catalyse explosion as well.
Claymore, five bucks! Score!
Murphy's Law of Combat, If you can't remember which way the claymores are pointed, they are pointed at you.
The dude recognized the threat: aerial invasion of every home in the free world. He responded appropriately, but was obviously prevented from detonating the Claymore. Poor bastard.
Looks like I'll spend another season sitting on the rooftop, waiting for the tell-tale "click, click... click."
It happens sometimes when dyslexic owners of explosive devices come across something they misread as being a 'detonation box'.
In all seriousness, I could totally see a guy with a deactivated claymore, as in no explosives, thinking "Hey, this is a nice little knick knack. I bet good will can sell it to somebody."
More like Ill Will
I'm sure it was a training mine. The chances that someone got unauthorized use of an actual Claymore mine is minute.
Why would someone do that?
@#14: At least according to Wikipedia, the training mines are blue but this one was olive.
Back in the 80s inert Claymore mine trainers came in both blue and olive drab. I had the impression that the olive drab ones were older.
Your unwarranted trust in human competence is touching, it makes me want to hug your silly ass. Stay innocent!
FYI - Even a blue training device may not be inert or harmless.
Wow, domestic terrorism. Where did they get the damn thing?
Jayrandom is correct. In my younger, playing-G.I.Joe-outside-days, I was in possession of a claymore training model. It was green.
I've seen thse sold as novelties in Army/Navy Surplus style stores. (Without any C4 in them of course).
At my last job, a co-worker had one stationed at the entrance to his office.
I'm sure that this is yet another case of bomb-squad over-reaction. Next they'll be raiding Spencer for all of the drilled out hand grenade gags with the "1" on the pin and "Complaint department; take a number" signs on them.
I would bet ten dollars this was a ashtray or similar nic-nac made from an old casing, like one of those desktop grenades with the "Please take a number." sign.
In this day and age anyone gets a little concerned we then call in the bomb squad and spend tens of thousands of dollars to do a safe explosion of any evidence of what it actually was.
Damn and in Spymaster they cost 5.6K... I want to go to his black market.
just a hangover from LBJ's War on Poor People.
Is there any doubt that Spencer gifts is a bunch of terrorists?
It was non-functioning, so says report in Denver Post.
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_12899460
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDqaeMGMAWk
@ Church,
You only have to "Click" it once to fire. Think of it as a panic button when you see the hordes coming over the wire.
however to test the clacker, there is a sequence in which you do click it multiple times (if I remember correctly)
Somewhat related anecdote:
One my friend's grandfather died when her child age father handed him a live grenade. He had pulled the pin, and handed it to his dad. Suppossedly he had found it while playing outside.
Dad did the heroic thing; threw the grenade away from the family (which was inside the house) and pushed the family outside the house. He was killed in the explosion.
They lived close to an army base where the army played "army games." Supposedly live bombs/ammunition, ect. were cleaned up afterward.
You know, I'm really glad I decided that I didn't have time that day to stick my donations in that damn box. I drove right on by.
My luck the damn claymore would have gone off.
Me thinks it was something like this.
http://www.kapowwe.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=1-1-610&Category_Code=Replica&Store_Code=R
In Vietnam (where I live) we have a news story every week or so about kids being killed by UXO left over from the American War (as we call it here).
It would be good to regard this as a reminder of the horrors of leaving bombs and weapons anywhere!
Oh ... and also ... if you haven't already seen it, watch the disturbing anti-landmine video linked to on the top left of this page:
http://www.stoplandmines.org/slm/index.html
'Front Toward Enemy'
Seem like well placed and efficient instructions.
I've often wondered why it wasn't "This Side Towards Enemy"? Or: "If You Can Read This You Are Dead"? Maybe: "No Dummy, The Other Side"?
Wait... is THIS the front side? Uhm.... Sarge?