UNK female student charged with felony possession of explosives

[zofoman]

I heard about this a while back and just now found the article.

A student at the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK) is under arrest, accused of possessing explosives.
19-year-old, Ann Castater, is charged in Buffalo County with Felony Possession of a Destructive Device, as well as misdemeanor charges of Disturbing the Peace and Minor in Possession.  Kearney Police made the arrest last week.
On February 17, UNK Public Safety officers and Kearney Police responded to a campus emergency phone alert.  According to authorities, a male caller stated that he was on campus with a firearm and wanted to harm himself.
As they were investigating, officers received a report of gunshots coming from a University dormitory.  However, a search did not produce the source of the possible gunfire or the armed subject.
Then, on February 19, UNK Public Safety officers received a report that Castater threw an M-80 firecracker out of her dorm window in order to scare friends.  A subsequent search of her dorm room lead to the discovery of eight homemade destructive devices.
A State Fire Marshal investigator conducted an interview  with Castater, and the bomb squad from the Nebraska State Patrol removed and confiscated the devices.

Full article:
http://www.northplattepost.com/2013/03/02/unk-student-arrested-for-felony-possession-of-explosives/


I get the point that the "timing" of this girl's action was not quite right....but, I have a problem with the "felony" charge.   A felony for possession of multiple M-80's???  Are you kidding me?  In my mind this should be, at most, nothing more than a misdemeanor...they're illegal fireworks after all.  Do people in Kearney think this girl was single-handedly going to take down their banks or city govt. offices with a handful of fireworks?   And the NSP bomb squad is called to carry off said fireworks....a little extreme don't you think?

[sidearm1]

Please read the article, it doesn't say possession of M-80 device, it says eight homemade devices (28-1213, 28-1480).  In Nebraska it is a felony to make any homemade explosive device with more then (don't quote me, I don't have the book very close) 40 grains of explosive powder.  THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE RELOADED AMMUNITION (thought I would say that before the end of the world clan steps in.)