German man launches lawn darts to show dangers

BERLIN, June 30 (UPI) -- A German man set out to show the lethal potential of oft-banned lawn darts by launching the projectiles with a homemade slingshot.

Joerg Sprave, whose YouTube channel is nicknamed "The Slingshot Channel" and "is all about launchers," began the video by demonstrating the usual throwing technique for store-bought and homemade lawn darts before showing off the launcher he created.

"Lawn darts are illegal in the U.S., and in several other countries too. They got banned because children died from accidental hits to the head," the video's description reads. "But are they really lethal? We were set to find out. No problem legally, as we are in Germany where lawn darts are unregulated."

Sprave demonstrated his launcher by embedding lawn darts in pieces of cardboard and wood before using them to show the density of "a leftover block of gelatin" that managed to stop a launched dart at point-blank range.