BATFE_Battle


	What's New Mark June 17-19, 2005 down on your calendars. The North East Regional Rocket Festival will be the areas premier event of the year. See the official NERRF website for more details. SpaceShip-1 wins the X-Prize. Congratulations to the scaled team! 10-4-04 the birth of a new space age. Congratulations Burt Rutan and Scaled Composites for getting half way to the X-Prize and all the way into space! Due to a family emergency I can not attend LDRS, I hope that those of you going all have a great time. The online album has the LDRS days all unlocked so please feel free to upload your pics of LDRS to share. Combined CTRA - METRA launch calendar back online. Click on Launch Calendar on the right hand navigation panel. On-Line Album added! Upload your favorite rocketry pictures and vote on them. Special LDRS section ready and waiting for LDRS pictures L3 project postponed. Due to increased demands at work I am unable to complete my L3 project in time for LDRS. S.S. Eclipse flies wireless video payload again. Go to the Movie Roc page. Completed Jeff Taylor's EX class. If you are interested in EX stop by the LOKI site and see when he's offering it again, you will not be disappointed. Joined Rocketry Top 50 Before you leave click on the TOP 50 link to vote for this site Combined Launch Calendar Added! All CTRA & METRA launches included See link on right side of page L3 project construction begins. check the L3 page for updates Salvatore Pais responds to my comments about his article in the Homeland Defense Journal. See his email to me and my response on the HomePage. Nor-East launch season begins OK folks time to dust off the rockets, its flying time Check CTRA-NARCONN and METRA sites for schedules. Loki Research becomes a Tripoli Certified Motor manufacturer while there are no certified motors yet, we can look forward to having more motor choices

Hobby rocketry as we know it is in extreme danger. Years ago we made a big mistake when the BATF included APCP on their explosives list. We should have fought it tooth and nail at that time, but since they didn't really enforce it, and many motors were considered "Easy-Access" the majority let it go. The BATF slowly and steadily increased their grip on our hobby and when September 11th came they decided that we are a threat to National Security. In the post 9-11 hysteria the Congress passed the Homeland Security Act (HSA). Many civil libertarians were justifiably alarmed at this, since many of our rights are now gone. Someone merely has to be accused of being a terrorist and all of a sudden the Government has the "right" to pull you out of your house and hold you indefinitely without formally charging you, without allowing you to see an attorney, and without having to notify anybody of where you are or what happened to you.

What does this have to do with the hobby of model rocketry? Well hopefully you know that our Congress has never met a bill they didn't like to attach riders to. One that was stuck on the HSA was a bill that had failed before, called the Safe Explosives Act. The combined HSA/SEA along with the BATFE's improper classification of APCP as an explosive will spell the end of rocketry as we know it and the end of many of the businesses which support it.

Currently we are fighting a two front war against this oppression. The first front opened up when NAR and TRA combined forces and launched a lawsuit against the BATF. See their websites [links] for updates on the current status of the lawsuit. The second front was opened by John Wickman and Senator Enzi. It is a legislative effort to get APCP hobby motors exempted from these regulations.

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PDF of my letter to Senator Dodd and Lieberman
Senator Dodd.pdf

PDF of my NPRM letter
NPRM.pdf

PDF of my letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee
Senate Judiciary Committee.pdf

Senator Lautenberg most definitely is not a friend to model rocketry. He seems to think we are terrorists and he is on a mission to save the American Citizens from us weapon building fanatics.

Lautenberg Press Release

Senator Enzi's response Enzi Press Release

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