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So it turns out that Americans,
the most free people in the entire world, asterisks,
have a lot of lesser known rights
and freedoms as Americans.
There is a deep well of obscure rights
across these United States that are just
sitting on shelves gathering dust.
So let's talk about more of the legal rights
that you have, but probably don't want
in any way, shape or form.
But quick legal disclaimer, as always,
this information is for educational
and entertainment purposes only,
and does not constitute legal advice.
Exercising some of the rights discussed
in this video could result in bodily harm,
drawn out litigation, or being shunned by one's peers.
Just because you can legally do something,
doesn't mean you should.
Restrictions may apply and please consult
with your doctor and your attorney
who isn't me before attempting any of these freedoms.
Okay, with that out of the way, let's get started.
(gentle music)
And so we start with the Americanist
of American freedoms, the right to own flamethrowers,
and of course, other extremely deadly weapons.
When politicians and judges decide
the meaning of the Second Amendment,
it's often the context of determining
what types of weapons should
or should not be in the hands of a civilian population.
That was the line pre-president Joe Biden
took in a 2019 interview with Anderson Cooper
while arguing in favor of an assault weapons ban.
- Look, the second amendment doesn't say
you can't restrict the kinds of weapons people can own.
You can't buy a bazooka.
You can't have a flamethrower.
- Well actually, Mr. President,
it turns out that you can own a flamethrower.
You also can own a bazooka with some restrictions.
In fact, there are a variety of high powered
and deadly weapon you can legally own in the United States.
Under the National Firearms Act of 1934,
as revised by the Gun Control Act of 1968
and the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968,
individuals can legally acquire sawed off shotguns,
any automatic weapons like machine guns
made before 1986, and destructive devices
like grenades, mortars, and yes, even bazookas.
But I'm sorry to tell you that these weapons,
commonly known as Title II weapons or NFA firearms,
can only be acquired after passing a background check,
paying a $200 transfer tax,
registering the weapon with the ATF,
and obtaining the approval of the Attorney General.
Though, a few states like Delaware,
New York, and California prohibit ownership
of all certain types of Title II weapons,
but most states allow for the legal ownership
if the owner has complied with federal registration
and taxation requirements.
Oh, and FYI, if you decide to shoot
a missile in South Carolina,
you can do it as long as you get a permit first.
Fun fact.
Flame throws are an entirely different animal though.
Believe it or not, there is no federal law
governing the private use of flamethrowers,
also known as extended reach torches.
In fact, only two states in the country
have any restrictions on flamethrowers at all,
Maryland and California.
Maryland flat out bans the device,
while California only allows you to obtain one
if you get a permit from the state fire marshal.
And as you may know,
Elon Musk has even gotten into the flamethrower game
by selling his own propane powered,
not a flamethrower device,
named to head off issues with customs officials.
However, people who have tried to take
his product overseas have often found
that customs officials disagree
that this device is not a flamethrower,
landing these people in legal trouble abroad.
And like many other topics discussed in this video,
you may be asking how on earth is this possibly legal?
After all flamethrowers were historically a weapon of war,
especially during World War II.
- [Narrator] A flame throwing tank stops
the mass funeral fire.
There is no eulogy and no mourning.
- But contrary to their portrayals
in movies and video games,
flamethrowers are classified as tools, not weapons.
And as tools, flamethrowers
actually have a wide variety of legitimate uses
outside of your garden variety cartoon super villainy.
Flamethrowers can be used to clear vegetation,
quickly melt snow from your driveway,
can be used to quickly sanitize
stadium seats in what's known as flame polishing.
They're great for cooking steaks,
and don't tell anyone, but they work really well
in training dogs and cats, though it only works once.
Now, despite all of these completely legitimate uses,
state and federal lawmakers from New York
have tried to ban the device.
In response to Musk's not a flamethrower stunt,
New York State lawmakers introduced a bill
to outlaw flamethrowers,
though the bill remains stalled.
And in 2015, 2018, and 2020,
New York Congressman Elliot Engel
sought to outlaw the possession
or transfer of flamethrowers
via the Flamethrowers? Really? Act.
Yes, that is actually the name
of the bill that he introduced.
The bill never made it out of committee
and Congressman Engle left Congress in 2021
after losing a primary challenge
for reasons completely unrelated to flamethrowers.
But that takes us to your right
to secretly record your conversations
with third parties that may or may not be related
to conversations about flamethrowers.
A common trope in film and TV involves
characters secretly recording their own conversations
to catch a third party admitting to criminal activity.
- It's my word against yours.
200 bucks a day, fluff.
365 days a year since I was 12.
- Actually it's your word against yours.
- So therein lies the question.
Can you actually do that?
Well, to give everyone's favorite answer,
it totally depends.
Mostly depends on whether you are violating
any federal or state wiretapping laws.
Federal law permits the recording
of any phone call, electronic communication,
or in person conversation including video
that captures audio with the consent
of one of the parties to the conversation,
also known as a one-party consent law.
So under a one-party consent law
you may record any conversation so long
as you are a party to that conversation.
You are that one party that can consent.
If you are not a party to the communication,
then at least one person
must give you consent to the recording
or you may have committed the, you know,
the crime of ease dropping.
Now 38 states plus the District of Columbia
have adopted a one-party consent law.
The remaining states though have a two-party consent law.
Now two-party consent is a bit of a misnomer
because you first have to get consent
to every party to that conversation.
So if there are three parties to that conversation,
you have to get consent from all three.
And as a threshold matter,
state and federal wiretapping laws
only protect conversations when the speaker
has a reasonable expectation of privacy
for the conversation.
So for example, even though these things
take place in public,
people do have a reasonable expectation
of privacy in a public bathroom stall
or locker room in both audio and video recordings
in such a place would likely violate state
and federal law without the subject's consent.
In contrast, though, a person bragging
at a private party about cheating
with a friend in a business deal,
probably couldn't claim a wiretap violation,
even if this conversation was recorded with a out consent.
In addition, federal law,
along with 17 one-party consent states
prohibits the recording of conversations
when done with criminal or tortious intent.
As an example, secretly recording a conversation
to use as blackmail would probably not be protected.
In contrast though, a federal appeals court
held that a son who used his phone
to secretly record a conversation
about his dying mother will
could not be federally prosecuted for wiretapping
because the son lacked tortious or criminal intent
independent of the recording.
Oh, and here's one more thing to consider.
If your secretly recorded phone call
takes place between two different states,
you'd better ensure that both states
are one-party consent jurisdictions
or you could find yourself in legal trouble.
That's what happened to Linda Tripp.
Back in the 1990s, government employee, Linda Tripp,
secretly recorded her confidential phone calls
with former White House intern, Monica Lewinsky,
wherein Ms. Lewinsky provided salacious details
about her intimate relationship
with then President Bill Clinton.
Now these tapes became a public sensation
upon their release and the fallout from the scandal
resulted in President Clinton's impeachment,
where, of course, he was acquitted by the Senate.
Now here's where Linda Tripp found herself
the target for prosecution.
Though, D.C. is a one-party recording jurisdiction,
Linda Tripp recorded her calls for Maryland,
which requires all parties to consent.
In January, 1998, Ms. Tripp turned over
the tapes to independent counsel Kenneth Starr
and exchange for immunity.
However, Maryland prosecutors indicted Ms. Tripp
on state wiretapping charges anyway,
arguing that federal immunity
did not extend to state violations.
But before that trial, the judge ruled that
Ms. Lewinsky whose testimony the state needed
to prove Tripp broke the law
would be barred from testifying.
And without their star witness,
the state dropped all charges in May of 2000.
So your mileage may vary.
And that takes us to one of my favorite
American rights of all time.
That is the right to steal someone's house.
Yes, that actually a thing.
One of the most important rights
that come with being a homeowner
is the right to keep unwanted intruders
off your property.
In fact, a person that knowingly enters
your property without permission has committed
a trespass and is subject to immediate arrest.
But here's an interesting wrinkle.
If you commit trespass for a day, you go to jail,
but if you openly trespass for years,
well, congratulations, you now own that land
and any buildings that are on top of it.
That's right.
You can actually crime your way
into becoming a property owner
in certain circumstances.
But fair warning, this is not an advisable
or easy way to earn title to property
as it usually takes decades of trespass
and fulfilling other state specific requirements
for that property to actually change ownership.
All right, so for purely informational purposes,
here is how a would-be-house-thief
could actually do this.
Under a doctrine that's called adverse possession,
a trespasser who continuously possesses
or occupies real property for certain length of time
can actually acquire legal ownership
to the property that they're illegally occupying.
To invoke adverse possessions
sufficient to get ownership,
the trespassers occupation on the land
must meet certain requirements.
It must be hostile.
It must be done without permission of the owner.
It must be actual.
So they have to be physically present.
It has to be open and notorious,
the act trespassing can't be secret
and must be obvious to onlookers.
And the trespasser must be in possession
of the property for an uninterrupted period of time
as prescribed by whatever statute we're in.
The time period for vesting varies by state,
ranging from five to 30 years,
but most commonly 10 to 20 years
is required of actual trespassing.
Some states require payment of property taxes
during the occupation period,
others mandate physical improvements to the land.
And some states even require the trespasser
to produce some kind of document or deed
relating to the ownership of the property,
even if the document itself is inaccurate
or carries no legal weight.
Now you might be asking,
why in the world would every state
give people the right to legally steal land,
albeit very, very slowly?
Well, the concept of adverse possession
actually dates back to 6th century Roman law.
Adverse possession was designed to encourage
land owners to make beneficial
and efficient use of their land,
thereby allowing title to pass
to the individual taking care of the land
from the holder that is effectively abandoned it.
Today the primary justification
for adverse possession is to incentivize
land owners to settle title disputes
by putting statutes of limitations
on possible litigation and possession.
In other words, if we don't really know who owns the land,
it's a good idea to give clean title to someone
who has had the land for a very long time
and often made improvements to it.
It removes a cloud of title.
So to summarize, I am not telling you
all to commit years of criminal trespass
to maybe acquire real property,
but if you've already been committing criminal trespass
for decades at the very least,
now you can find out if you accidentally have acquired
that real property, so good for you.
Now, what if I told you
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