<i>SEC. 2. FLAMETHROWERS TREATED THE SAME AS MACHINEGUNS FOR PURPOSES OF ALL FEDERAL CRIMINAL LAWS RELATING TO FIREARMS.</i><p>Why? With a real machine gun you could level a whole crowd in a minute. With a flamethrower, you can mostly make an ass of yourself unless the people you want to harm are in a pillbox. They’re not equivalent threats to others, and frankly a flamethrowers is mostly a threat to the carrier.