Can you own your own tank?

[Jon]

After posting the photo of the Panzer tank hull being quenched, like all reasonable people, I wondered: Can you own your own tank?

Yes you can. It's expensive ($250,000+ purchase price), heavily regulated, and not exactly convenient (about 1 mile per gallon). But, at least in the USA, perfectly legal. So much so that an estimated 1,000 Americans are private tank owners.

Here's a decent 2-minute Wall Street Journal video in which WWII Chaffee tank owner Bill Bauer of Port Lavaca, Texas is interviewed. Bauer rigged his tank with a modified .50 cal gun that uses propane to simulate the muzzle flash and noise of gunfire.

Bauer presents well: he's chairman of a local bank, he's sporting a Military Vehicle Preservation Association shirt, and (until his wife dishes the truth!) he conveys his reason for tank ownership as the noble and selfless act of "preserving history" for "grandkids and great grandkids".

As the video closes, Bauer demonstrates the simulated .50 cal in an abandoned parking lot, and the cops show up. The police officer's first words: "You know why we're here, right?"

This video is a good example of why the Wall Street Journal largely survived The Great Fake News Wars of 2016. It's interesting, reasonably presented, and not overproduced.

Previously:

Panzer tank hull being quenched
tank silencer
steam-powered tanks
Tankenstein rat rod
Big Wind firefighting jet tank
WWII Churchill tank converted into mine clearer