Hobby rockets won’t face stricter controls due to security

Hobbyists and stargazers can take comfort — homeland security isn’t grounding model rockets. Hobby store manager Brian Harvey says congress did look at requiring background checks and fingerprints from anyone who handled model rocket fuel. He says a bunch of concerned people got hold of senators to tell tham about how the little model-rocket engines can’t really be used in a destructive way, and so all the kinds handled by standard hobby suppliers are still legal and can be shipped. Harvey says they were very concerned at first that new rules would eliminate all model-rocket engines, but that’s turned out not to be the case. There had been proposals to ban handling of the engines, which look like giant firecrackers, by anyone who hadn’t been fingerprinted and had a background check, and major freight-handlers like U-P-S were already saying they wouldn’t transport the supplies if they had to go through so much security. He can’t tell what materials make up the propellant chemicals, but explains they’re lit by an “igniter” or simple fuse. Some reports said the government might also ban radio-controlled model airplanes after some of those were reportedly found in a cave that had been a hideout for terrorists with the Taliban, but Harvey says nobody’s come to him about it. Harvey and co-owners operate the “Hobby Haven” store in Windsor Heights.