July 23, 2006 Fernley, NEV. Assault weapons: they're not just for militias anymore As the sun went down over the western Nevada desert on a recent summer day, Christian David Newby strapped a Vietnam War-era M-9 flamethrower to his back and torched a pile of scrap lumber. "When people asked me what I was going to do this weekend I told them I was going to Nevada to shoot exotic weapons," said Newby, a Boulder Creek resident. Newby is referring to assault weapons such as flamethrowers, Uzis, and AK-47s, which are banned in California unless operated with a special license....