Feds Warn Missouri Residents to Stop Hoarding Gasoline?

Since I was born and raised in Missouri, I don't want you to tell me something. You have to show me. That's why when someone mentioned that the feds were warning Missourians to stop hoarding gasoline, I had to see it to believe it. Well, I've seen it and I believe it and I'll show you, too, but it's nothing to really worry about.

I had someone point me to a real statement from the Consumer Product Safety Commission. If you read it, you're likely to swallow your gum like I did as it feels like the federal government trying to overreach their jurisdiction. The statement from the federal government (and I quote) "warns consumers that private storage of more than a limited amount of gasoline (usually five gallons or less) is illegal in many areas, and subsequent fire damage may not be covered by insurance policies".

Fortunately, I decided to scan the full context of the statement and saw something that helped me understand what was going on. It's this date...

July 30, 1979

While this is a real statement from the government, it dates back decades to the period in America when there was a real fuel crisis. But, the warning isn't completely irrelevant today.

I came across a story from just two years ago in St. Louis, Missouri when a report from KSDK says "couple caught on camera hoarding gas". It was a safety concern due to them reportedly putting fuel in containers that weren't necessarily safe if I understand the situation correctly.

Slate asked the same question about whether it's legal to hoard gasoline and the issue is kind of confusing.

I decided to dig deeper and could not find any current limit on gasoline storage in Missouri, but there may be local regulations where you live that do put limits and/or safety requirements on how much gasoline you can store and where/how you store it.