I questioned this while I worked for a DoD contractor . I went to our QC and shipping as well as the goobermental staff . The unrefined overview was that in a private aircraft without more than nominal flight crew and there was no conflict with departure or arrival point law or ordinance that nominal transportation quantities would be acceptable . Nominal quantity falls under the 32# reference found in the NFPA rules for storage ............. However it is in private transportation , so the rules kinda go out the window with any quantity of 1.1,1.2,1.3 and 1000 lb of 1.4 must be placarded in commercial transportation . Not required in a private vehicle ..... Kind of a catch 22 in a U-Haul . I believe that in any case the authority would have to prove or have reasonable suspicion of intent .
6 Sea Bags or several foot locker looking suit cases might be grounds to make a guy miserable . Four 8# jugs in a couple of gym bags and a 20 mm can would probably not even get a second look depending on the departure point .
I hop my expiration date is far it the future!A couple of years and I'll probably be completely out of date ......
The actual phrase , which I missed , is "when placed in commerce" .
1.3 applies to mass fire hazard , smokeless powder fills that at least it did when I was involved in that .
1.2 is a projection or mass fragmentation , explosive howie shells , "pineapple" grenades etc .
1.1 is mass detonation , TNT , HBX , RDX , non propellant BP .
1.4 is loaded and canned small arms , inert projectile 20mm and smaller .
Legally under DOT commerce laws an 8oz of trail boss needs placards , which the shipper is required to provide , to take it home from the retailer . Primers are a vague place ours are 1.2 as they aren't overly sensitive but tend to spray around , larger primers , because of the volume of compound involved get moved up to 1.1 . Except that the buyer isn't placing it in commerce because they are neither paying nor being paid to transport the said mat'l .
22 yr in shipping of said items , some 275 hours of haz-mat classes , level 3 tech ........ Good times .
From enforcement , while it could tie a guy up and be a hassle the pressure would be on the LEO to prove the mat'l was in commerce and or malicious intent .
Bret, the ONLY thing I would ask of my FBI friend is a friendly call to mention that "he's actually not very likely
to be a terrorist, I have known him for 30 years", nothing more. No expectation of any special treatment other
than a character reference to perhaps clarify an ambigous situation where they might be wondering what
the heck is going on with 4 or 5 8lb containers of powder. No chance I would call with the expection of
"fixing a ticket" or any special treatment. Just some disambiguation.
Bill