6 ms·

High explosives are basically legal in the US, depending on State law, to a degree that I think would surprise most people. I've been to local retail depots whe

High explosives are basically legal in the US, depending on State law, to a degree that I think would surprise most people. I've been to local retail depots where you could literally buy high-explosives by the ton from a pretty large menu, cash and carry. And explosives are dirt cheap, it is bulk industrial chemistry. The only real requirement was that you have a vehicle with the standard hazard placards and the surface of the storage area in the vehicle is non-sparking material. A short-barreled rifle, on the other hand, it is strictly forbidden without an appropriate Federal tax stamp. One of the reasons that high-explosives are widely legal is that they have several common applications for individual use. Despite the availability and consumption of high-explosives in the US, misuse has been very rare in practice.

nullc 2y ago
Anyone who is surprised that high explosives are available has not had to deal with a bunch of large stumps. -- they're a nightmare even with a large excavator, explosives are a life saver.
- sandworm101 2y ago
  Or a beaver dam. Imagine a bunch of those stumps all concreted together with mud.
  - raddan 2y ago
    Twenty-plus years ago I hiked the Appalachian Trail. Back then, it was common practice to hitch a ride into town for resupply. One time when my partner and I were hiking in Virginia, we got picked up by a state department of conservation employee. During the ride I asked him what he did and he said “I destroy beaver dams.” When I asked him how he did it he said “with dynamite.” I laughed—how ridiculous, right?—and he looked at me very seriously and said “it’s not funny; beaver dams are difficult to remove.” For years I thought that this was some dumb redneck thing until I met another former DCR employee back home who told me the same story.
    - op00to 2y ago
      I dunno, the image of some beaver watching a guy in green and brown blow up its hard work with dynamite is pretty damned funny. His little face all surprised and angry.
- kstrauser 2y ago
  Yup. I was surprised when my cousin showed me my uncle’s TNT stash, but then explained how they cleared stumps off the family farm. One of my rural buddies told me how he spent a summer mixing diesel and fertilizer to clear fields, approaching it like a lab experiment and keeping detailed notes. Honestly, both sounded like a lot of fun.
- littlestymaar 2y ago
  Or you can use stump remover (Potassium nitrate) which allows to use fire to destroy them safely.
  - lazide 2y ago
    It doesn’t work very well, and it can cause underground fires which pop up a year+ later.
    - littlestymaar 2y ago
      It works well enough to be the only legal way of dealing with them in most of EU, and the consequences of mishandling are no doubt more severe with high explosive than simply “can cause underground fire”.
      - lazide 2y ago
        Uh, the EU has plenty of bans of very useful things. I know of at least one 500+ acre wildfire in California that was caused by burning roots. As to how much it matters or not? No clue.
        littlestymaar 2y ago
        > Uh, the EU has plenty of bans of very useful things. Yeah, like AR-15 and high explosives, surprisingly violent death rate is much lower here…
        solidsnack9000 2y ago
        Like speech, equity compensation... AR-15s are actually not banned in many parts of the EU.
        littlestymaar 2y ago
        > Like speech Speech, in both the EU and the US is free under the limits set by law, the US isn't an “absolute free speech land”, you will definitely be jailed for speech that goes against the law (for instance death threats, see [1]). > equity compensation... What are you talking about, I've been given equity more than once… [1]: https://nypost.com/2024/12/12/us-news/florida-mom-arrested-for-saying-delay-deny-depose-on-call-with-bluecross-blueshield/ https://nypost.com/2024/12/12/us-news/florida-mom-arrested-f...
- buildsjets 2y ago
  I read a book a while back about the founder of San Juan Airlines, a local commuter airline, in the Puget Sound area. There was an entire chapter that described the process of the founder clearing the Friday Harbor runway on San Juan island of trees, mostly working alone, using TNT and heavy equipment. https://www.amazon.com/Island-Bush-Pilot-Founder-Airlines/dp/096743694X https://www.amazon.com/Island-Bush-Pilot-Founder-Airlines/dp...
- hombre_fatal 2y ago
  [flagged]
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
boomboomsubban 2y ago
There are laws barring explosives, see https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/842 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/842, and the one mentioned in the article is listed as having no known use with at least some evidence of others being charged with having it. Maybe the charge would get thrown out at some point, but not including it in the indictment seems odd.
- lazide 2y ago
  Those laws don’t actually bar explosives at all, and there are numerous carve outs that could potentially meet what the poster is describing. You might want to read it? Though it would be helpful to know which state, because I don’t know of any that are quite that easy to deal with. BATF to my knowledge does still require a license (albeit easy to get if you meet the requirements) for commercial use, anyway.
  - Hnrobert42 2y ago
    [flagged]
    - lazide 2y ago
      My comment did not refer to the article at all. It was if they had read the link to the law they pasted. Which near as I can tell they hadn’t, because the content of the law is the opposite of what they are asserting it is. Feel free to check the law yourself if you’d like.
  - boomboomsubban 2y ago
    >It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in the business of importing, manufacturing, or dealing in explosive materials without a license issued under this chapter Seems fairly clear cut. You could argue the term "business" means they need to be selling the stuff, but the definitions clarify "manufacturing" includes for personal use. edit it never occurred to me he may be licensed. Still, this particular explosive seems to have no approved use, and the licensing seems to be for specific explosives. I may be wrong on that though. And it's Virginia, the Isle of Wight is a county in Virginia.
krior 2y ago
I honestly don't know - what are some common applications of explosive material for private persons?
- infecto 2y ago
  Stump removal for one. I would wager this is one of those things where the further outside of the city you get the more common it’s use would be.
  - zikduruqe 2y ago
    Blowing up beaver dams that are flooding your farm land.
  - krior 2y ago
    Maybe I am naive, but is the ability to remove stumps without specialists really worth the risk of random inexperienced/careless people buying dangerous explosives?
    - infecto 2y ago
      To be frank I don’t have much of an opinion on either side. Just sharing how it’s used. I have heard of very few issues with people buying these historically and most/all of these require putting your name on a list. I suspect a far greater many are injured from fireworks.
  - Loughla 2y ago
    We use machinery for that now. It isn't 1823 anymore.
    - infecto 2y ago
      I am not advocating for anything but sharing how it’s used. The why would be a lot of people don’t have access to stump grinders and they can be awfully slow if you have a lot to take care of. They also are more expensive to rent and especially to buy. You don’t seem to have experience in the area but if you are taking care of multiple acres and need to knock out a number of stumps, machinery is pretty inefficient. It’s also difficult to move around if we are talking multi acre properties and not a residential less than acre lot. Get out of here with your ridiculous 1823 hyperbole. These explosive can be very efficient and useful when managing multiple acres.
strathmeyer 2y ago
US government started tracking explosives sales in the 70s which is why such terror incidents drastically dropped at that time. Misuse is rare because of government regulation.
giantg2 2y ago
"High explosives are basically legal in the US" The compounds generally are. The applicable use is where the laws come into play. Things like pipe bombs, devices marked "lethal", etc are not legal without special permits and would be deemed destructive devices.

nullc 2y ago

Anyone who is surprised that high explosives are available has not had to deal with a bunch of large stumps. -- they're a nightmare even with a large excavator, explosives are a life saver.

sandworm101 2y ago
Or a beaver dam. Imagine a bunch of those stumps all concreted together with mud.
- raddan 2y ago
  Twenty-plus years ago I hiked the Appalachian Trail. Back then, it was common practice to hitch a ride into town for resupply. One time when my partner and I were hiking in Virginia, we got picked up by a state department of conservation employee. During the ride I asked him what he did and he said “I destroy beaver dams.” When I asked him how he did it he said “with dynamite.” I laughed—how ridiculous, right?—and he looked at me very seriously and said “it’s not funny; beaver dams are difficult to remove.” For years I thought that this was some dumb redneck thing until I met another former DCR employee back home who told me the same story.
  - op00to 2y ago
    I dunno, the image of some beaver watching a guy in green and brown blow up its hard work with dynamite is pretty damned funny. His little face all surprised and angry.
kstrauser 2y ago
Yup. I was surprised when my cousin showed me my uncle’s TNT stash, but then explained how they cleared stumps off the family farm. One of my rural buddies told me how he spent a summer mixing diesel and fertilizer to clear fields, approaching it like a lab experiment and keeping detailed notes. Honestly, both sounded like a lot of fun.
littlestymaar 2y ago
Or you can use stump remover (Potassium nitrate) which allows to use fire to destroy them safely.
- lazide 2y ago
  It doesn’t work very well, and it can cause underground fires which pop up a year+ later.
  - littlestymaar 2y ago
    It works well enough to be the only legal way of dealing with them in most of EU, and the consequences of mishandling are no doubt more severe with high explosive than simply “can cause underground fire”.
    - lazide 2y ago
      Uh, the EU has plenty of bans of very useful things. I know of at least one 500+ acre wildfire in California that was caused by burning roots. As to how much it matters or not? No clue.
      - littlestymaar 2y ago
        > Uh, the EU has plenty of bans of very useful things. Yeah, like AR-15 and high explosives, surprisingly violent death rate is much lower here…
        solidsnack9000 2y ago
        Like speech, equity compensation... AR-15s are actually not banned in many parts of the EU.
        littlestymaar 2y ago
        > Like speech Speech, in both the EU and the US is free under the limits set by law, the US isn't an “absolute free speech land”, you will definitely be jailed for speech that goes against the law (for instance death threats, see [1]). > equity compensation... What are you talking about, I've been given equity more than once… [1]: https://nypost.com/2024/12/12/us-news/florida-mom-arrested-for-saying-delay-deny-depose-on-call-with-bluecross-blueshield/ https://nypost.com/2024/12/12/us-news/florida-mom-arrested-f...
buildsjets 2y ago
I read a book a while back about the founder of San Juan Airlines, a local commuter airline, in the Puget Sound area. There was an entire chapter that described the process of the founder clearing the Friday Harbor runway on San Juan island of trees, mostly working alone, using TNT and heavy equipment. https://www.amazon.com/Island-Bush-Pilot-Founder-Airlines/dp/096743694X https://www.amazon.com/Island-Bush-Pilot-Founder-Airlines/dp...
hombre_fatal 2y ago
[flagged]
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

boomboomsubban 2y ago

There are laws barring explosives, see https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/842 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/842, and the one mentioned in the article is listed as having no known use with at least some evidence of others being charged with having it. Maybe the charge would get thrown out at some point, but not including it in the indictment seems odd.

lazide 2y ago
Those laws don’t actually bar explosives at all, and there are numerous carve outs that could potentially meet what the poster is describing. You might want to read it? Though it would be helpful to know which state, because I don’t know of any that are quite that easy to deal with. BATF to my knowledge does still require a license (albeit easy to get if you meet the requirements) for commercial use, anyway.
- Hnrobert42 2y ago
  [flagged]
  - lazide 2y ago
    My comment did not refer to the article at all. It was if they had read the link to the law they pasted. Which near as I can tell they hadn’t, because the content of the law is the opposite of what they are asserting it is. Feel free to check the law yourself if you’d like.
- boomboomsubban 2y ago
  >It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in the business of importing, manufacturing, or dealing in explosive materials without a license issued under this chapter Seems fairly clear cut. You could argue the term "business" means they need to be selling the stuff, but the definitions clarify "manufacturing" includes for personal use. edit it never occurred to me he may be licensed. Still, this particular explosive seems to have no approved use, and the licensing seems to be for specific explosives. I may be wrong on that though. And it's Virginia, the Isle of Wight is a county in Virginia.

krior 2y ago

I honestly don't know - what are some common applications of explosive material for private persons?

infecto 2y ago
Stump removal for one. I would wager this is one of those things where the further outside of the city you get the more common it’s use would be.
- zikduruqe 2y ago
  Blowing up beaver dams that are flooding your farm land.
- krior 2y ago
  Maybe I am naive, but is the ability to remove stumps without specialists really worth the risk of random inexperienced/careless people buying dangerous explosives?
  - infecto 2y ago
    To be frank I don’t have much of an opinion on either side. Just sharing how it’s used. I have heard of very few issues with people buying these historically and most/all of these require putting your name on a list. I suspect a far greater many are injured from fireworks.
- Loughla 2y ago
  We use machinery for that now. It isn't 1823 anymore.
  - infecto 2y ago
    I am not advocating for anything but sharing how it’s used. The why would be a lot of people don’t have access to stump grinders and they can be awfully slow if you have a lot to take care of. They also are more expensive to rent and especially to buy. You don’t seem to have experience in the area but if you are taking care of multiple acres and need to knock out a number of stumps, machinery is pretty inefficient. It’s also difficult to move around if we are talking multi acre properties and not a residential less than acre lot. Get out of here with your ridiculous 1823 hyperbole. These explosive can be very efficient and useful when managing multiple acres.

strathmeyer 2y ago

US government started tracking explosives sales in the 70s which is why such terror incidents drastically dropped at that time. Misuse is rare because of government regulation.

giantg2 2y ago

"High explosives are basically legal in the US" The compounds generally are. The applicable use is where the laws come into play. Things like pipe bombs, devices marked "lethal", etc are not legal without special permits and would be deemed destructive devices.