Elon Musk's Flamethrowers Are Finally Here and the Videos Are Concerning

When you heard earlier this year that Elon Musk -- that guy from Tesla, SpaceX, and the Boring Company -- was going all in on the modern-day Prometheus thing and introducing the world to Boring Company flamethrowers, you might have wondered whether this was, after 10 seconds of reflection, a good idea. Honestly, you probably thought it was a joke.

We now know for sure that it wasn't: The first 1,000 people now have their flamethrowers, and there are pictures and videos flooding social media to prove it. Whether this was a good idea is still an open question.

Last winter, Musk promised the world a flamethrower if we bought 50,000 The Boring Company hats. The hats sold, the flamethrower went up online for the low price of $500, plus tax, and The Boring Company promptly sold $5 million worth of them.

Flamethrowers are actually unregulated in almost every state because, according to the Washington Post, "they aren't considered a 'firearm,' which -- unlike a flamethrower -- is defined by its ability to expel a projectile using an explosive." The only states that do ban them outright are California and Maryland, but these probably don't fit that definition anyway as they don't shoot a flammable liquid and the flame is pretty short. They're really more like giant, highly impractical propane lighters. 

As you can imagine, politicians were not thrilled about this plan. California Democratic Assemblymen Miguel Santiago posted a huge press release to Twitter and said, "If this is real, I’m outraged and you should be too. If this is a joke, then it’s a terribly insensitive one given that we’re coming off of the worst wildfire season in history. Either way: NOT FUNNY. NOT GONNA HAPPEN." But as we've established, it is real. And it is happening.

In an attempt to bypass any restrictions, Musk also changed the name to "Not-a-Flamethrower" and sent out rhyming, whimsical terms and conditions. 

Whether you think this is all absolutely insane or not, they're here.

Take a look:

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James Chrisman is a News Writer at Thrillist. Send news tips to news@thrillist.com and follow him on Twitter @james_chrisman2.