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2007 May Slush
(HM)Recycled Bullets.
(?)Old Guy, Nudist Colony and Car Door
(DA)Fatal Double Crossing
Man dies while trying to have sex .
(PA)Stirring Up the Wasp Nest
(?)Blank Brain Shooting Blanks
(?)Crispy Critter
(DA)Glowing Georgi
Towel Snapper
Tagger gets burned
(PA)Bong Gone Wrong
Sniffing Smoker
Wacky tale of a pair who got whacke
Moomins that go bump in the night
Drunken (Wheelchair) Driving
Quick Draw
Train Kills Would-be Killer
Sat nav driver's car hit by train
Smoking is dangerous
Cops Say Culprit Caught in Cemetery
Fiery Instant, 'wild' spirit killed
Man burned in DIY accident
Search For Crash Victims Suspended
Volts bolt kills teen on pylon
Flying WAY Under The Radar
a dumb hitchhiker kills herself
Stormwater Surfer II
Short sawing shooter shoots himself
Pee on a PS2, Get Electrocuted
(HM)Teen Hurt Whacking Bullets With Ham
Kiss of the freight train
Bridge Rappelling
Poisonous Alcohol
Man gets leg harvested
Roofs and Drinking Don't Mix
Ceiling tile temptation
WoW player harrasses woman in-game,
Lets build a flame cannon
Three hurt in couch-towing stunt in
Man caught in industrial fan is kil
Illegal fireworks kill party host
Quad bike pub crawl
Too much water can kill
Give me ice cream or give me death!
Carbon monoxide claims life of Emer
The Cause: A Inadequate Tool
Soccer fan beheaded
The tragic tale of pilot's sticky t
Another elemental mistake!
Wheelies in a Hardee's Parking Lot
Taxi driver run over by own car
(HM)whacking bullets
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Darwin Awards
2007 Slush Pile

This item was recently submitted by a reader.
Should I include it in the archive?
Vote to tell me what *you* think!

Lets build a flame cannon

2007 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

I'm not a writer but here are the basics. Some guys including the 21/22 year old nominee thought it would be cool and fun to build a flame throwing cannon. So they packed a three foot two inch piece of pipe with some gun powder that they gathered by cutting open shotgun shells. When ignited it blew up killing the 21/22 year old. Here are links to the two versions of the story North County Times http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/05/25/news/coastal/oceanside/28_19_475_24_07.txt San Diego Union Tribune http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070525/news_1m25pubsafe.html Feel free to rewrite this.

Submitted on 05/25/2007

Submitted by: Brant
Reference: North County Times 5/25/07 San Diego Union Tribune 5/25/07

Copyright © 2007 DarwinAwards.com

Great? 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Awful?
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>> Moderator Scores <<

Bruce said:
Neutral: Darwin Award
I'm on the fence with this sort of story being too common. For some reason a lot of people seem to like retrieving gunpowder from shells in order to make cannons, fireworks, etc. and then end up regretting the outcome. Thanks for the story, Brant, let's see what the others have to say.


James said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
In general, fireworks-related incidents ARE too common, but going to such legnths to make a homemade cannon aren't! In the end, what they made was effectively a bomb and not a cannon...but they didn't think about that, now did they?! Even medieval artisans who crafted the first guns knew that they had to be strong enough to withstand exploding gunpowder. A two-inch pipe simply isn't strong enough! I'll go DA!


Graham said:
Neutral: Darwin Award
Although such tales ARE too common, these guys went out of their way in an attempt to eliminate themselves. In my book ANYONE who attempts to make any form of weapon and who lacks the necessary skills to do so is a potential DA contender. If this weapon had worked, what would they have done with it? Definitely NOT save the rainforests . . .


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The human race's most popular humor series returns with a brand-new collection of macabre mishaps and misadventures. Honoring those who improve our gene pool by inadvertently removing themselves from it, the Darwin Awards III shows once more how uncommon common sense still is.

Salute the sheriff who inadvertently shot himself--twice! Witness the insurance defrauder who amputated his leg with a chainsaw! Heed the story of the farmer who avoided bee stings by sealing his head in a plastic bag! Cringe at the man crushed by a branch he'd just severed... directly over his head!

123 new stories, 18 full-page illustrations, plus discussions of transgenic animals, the origin of life, and more.

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