Coming soon to Texas, for the wingnut who doesn’t think a gun enough of a ‘statement’:

Commercial XM42 flamethrower hits the open market (VIDEO)

The XM42 is the result of personal ambition and a lot of helping hands in the form of an Indiegogo campaign. It’s the world’s first commercially-produced flamethrower by Ion Productions, and it’s available and for sale now to the general public.

And before you think this is a firebug’s dream come true — which it is, we’re not even going to try to argue otherwise — it’s also a serious tool. While the first thing that comes to mind is that this is a slightly grown-up version of shooting matchsticks out of BB guns the XM42 was an instant hit with farmers looking for a cheap and efficient way to clear land and for firefighters to use for controlled burns.

As a result the crowdfunding effort pretty effortlessly drummed up the support needed to put the idea into real production. They raised $50,000 in the first day of the project, more than the $40,000 goal, eventually taking in over $157,000 in pre-orders and pledges.

“Although I knew the XM42 was a cool concept, I had no idea it would cause a firestorm of interest and orders right off the bat,” said Chris Byars, XM42 project leader. “I’m proud of how far my design has come from its early days, and am eager to start sharing the XM42 with everyone.”

XM42 Video Update #5: Blaze it up

I CAN see legit uses for this thing, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t somewhat scare me.