# Buying High Explosives, a Practical Guide **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 21, 2009, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-high-explosives-a-practical-guide/500478 "2009-06-21T15:44:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2009, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-high-explosives-a-practical-guide/500478/1 "2009-06-21T15:44:18Z")
Somewhere yesterday I read about people on the no-fly list who can still buy guns. One of these people even bought “100 pounds of high explosive.” That got me thinking. Where does one buy high explosives? What sort of permits would a person in the US or Europe need to buy them? (Are they expensive?) After all, lots of people legitimately need stuff that goes boom. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2009, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-high-explosives-a-practical-guide/500478/2 "2009-06-21T15:58:16Z")
I’m not sure how one goes about buying explosives, but I will note that the term “high explosives” include more “mundane” explosives such as dynamite and TNT. The distinction, as I understand it, is that “low explosives” explode by burning very quickly, whereas “high explosives” explode by sending a shock wave through the explosive (which compresses it and causes it to explode.) The technical term for this distinction is [deflagration](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deflagration) vs. [detonation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detonation). I still have no idea where John Q. Six-Pack would obtain 100 pounds of dynamite, though, even if it’s a relatively everyday explosive. ---
**Author:** ![Scruff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Scruff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruff)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-high-explosives-a-practical-guide/500478/3 "2009-06-21T17:17:33Z")
If you go to Google (as I just did), you can find a couple of places on the first results page that will ship you high explosives. According to one of the sites, you need a “federal license” to complete the transaction, but then they’ll ship the stuff to you. Back to Google. Here’s an application for a BATF Federal Explosives License (pdf). And [here’s](http://www.lni.wa.gov/TradesLicensing/LicensingReq/Explosives/default.asp) something from Washington state about maybe needing a state permit as well. Hope this helps. I shall now find out if Homeland Security is still monitoring my internet connection 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2009, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-high-explosives-a-practical-guide/500478/4 "2009-06-21T18:12:02Z")
They were before too. ===For what should I Google? “high explosives for sale” gave no interesting hits. (I bet you many of these site would be censored here.) ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2009, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-high-explosives-a-practical-guide/500478/5 "2009-06-21T23:19:18Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > Somewhere yesterday I read about people on the no-fly list who can still buy guns. Why do you think the no-fly list has anything to do with buying guns? That’s a Federal list, with access limited to the TSA goons. I understand that even if you are on the list, you can’t find out why (or even for sure that you are on it). So when someone walks up to the guns counter in their local Wal-Mart, do you think the clerk there has access to this no-fly list to check out their customers name? Not likely! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2009, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-high-explosives-a-practical-guide/500478/6 "2009-06-22T03:54:40Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > That’s a Federal list, with access limited to the TSA goons. I understand that even if you are on the list, you can’t find out why (or even for sure that you are on it). Here’s a searchable [list](http://www.no-fly-list.com/) which may or may not be an accurate reflection of the official version. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2009, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-high-explosives-a-practical-guide/500478/7 "2009-06-22T06:25:07Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Why do you think the no-fly list has anything to do with buying guns? This. There’s no oversight with regard to the no-fly list and no reliable method of redress. There’s all sorts of stupid reasons you can be added to the list including “your name is vaguely similar to someone of interest, no matter if you are a different age (children are on the list!), gender, or location”, “you pissed off someone who works at the airport”, “you are a social activist”, “you wrote a book critical of somebody”, etc. If gun ownership were based on the same standards, very few people could manage to get guns, and the NRA would start a revolt. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2009, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-high-explosives-a-practical-guide/500478/8 "2009-06-22T07:02:09Z")
So I suppose at this point we ought to consider the thread a bust? It is not very often anyone can stump all of Dopedom. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2009, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-high-explosives-a-practical-guide/500478/9 "2009-06-22T12:00:43Z")
Looks like it. I suspect that the Dopers who can answer this question know better than to do so on an open forum. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2009, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-high-explosives-a-practical-guide/500478/10 "2009-06-22T12:48:47Z")
This place has det cords and high explosives: [http://www.omniexplosives.com/](http://www.omniexplosives.com/) You might try some of the other links on [this page](http://www.iabti.org/manulinks.html) for others. Given that one of the links went to “Explosive fitness!” I think that it’s a bit out-of-date (someone else bought the DNS) but I didn’t click more than a few links so that leaves a bit of ground still uncovered. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2009, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-high-explosives-a-practical-guide/500478/11 "2009-06-22T15:27:54Z")
Don’t know the real answer, but my WAG is that you need a permit, and are likely to get a permit for things like military/police, construction, mining, fireworks, and being on Mythbusters. ---
**Author:** ![Scruff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Scruff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruff)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2009, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-high-explosives-a-practical-guide/500478/12 "2009-06-22T17:12:52Z")
Well, a Google search for explosive dealers lead to this link [http://www.magicyellow.com/category/Explosives\_(wholesale)/Cities.html](http://www.magicyellow.com/category/Explosives_(wholesale)/Cities.html). Clicking on my home town (Seattle) got some likely looking places. So I think that’s what you’d need to do. The couple I looked at were fairly insistent that you needed licenses and permits. ---
**Author:** ![Hirundo82](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/919ad9/32.png) [@Hirundo82](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirundo82)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2009, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-high-explosives-a-practical-guide/500478/13 "2009-06-22T23:24:38Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > This. There’s no oversight with regard to the no-fly list and no reliable method of redress. There’s all sorts of stupid reasons you can be added to the list including “your name is vaguely similar to someone of interest, no matter if you are a different age (children are on the list!), gender, or location”, “you pissed off someone who works at the airport”, “you are a social activist”, “you wrote a book critical of somebody”, etc. > > If gun ownership were based on the same standards, very few people could manage to get guns, and the NRA would start a revolt. [Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY)](http://carolynmccarthy.house.gov/?sectionid=155§iontree=189,155&itemid=1038) is proposing a bill that would do just that. From Rep. McCarthy’s official site: > [@](#): > > Today, May 13, 2009 at 11:00 a.m. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (NY-04) and Steve Israel (NY-02) will host a press conference to announce the introduction of the No Fly, No Buy Act, which seeks to close the ‘terror gap’ by preventing people whose names appear on the Transportation Security Administration’s terrorist “no fly list” from being eligible to buy guns. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2009, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-high-explosives-a-practical-guide/500478/14 "2009-06-22T23:35:32Z")
I don’t know about post-9/11, but we used to buy dynamite from the local hardware store back in Kansas. My uncle and I cleared stumps and rocks on the farm one summer with that stuff. Wasn’t much hassle at all if you own a working farm. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-high-explosives-a-practical-guide/500478/15 "2009-06-23T00:01:41Z")
Enough propane and **boom** goes the structure. I had a buddy (a Marine, half-crazy gun-owner type) that got together with some friends on a rural farm, they pumped an old abandoned structure full of propane, lined the foundation with a couple propane tanks and then shot them from long range, resulting in a massive explosion that levelled the structure. They then proceeded to (smartly) put their hijinks up on youtube, which invariably caught the unwanted attention of the ATF and Homeland Security. Much fun was had by all under questioning. I still don’t see why an owner of land, with acres and acres cannot on his own decide to blow up some old shack on his property though. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-high-explosives-a-practical-guide/500478/16 "2009-06-23T00:03:37Z")
As an aside. I was driving through southern alabama about 2 months ago. And there was nice new shiny sign in the middle of nowhere. It was an advertisement for “We BLOW UP beaver dams” company/service. Unfortunately at the time my camera was on the fritz. Nobel would be proud. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-high-explosives-a-practical-guide/500478/17 "2009-06-23T03:20:09Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Enough propane and **boom** goes the structure… > > I still don’t see why an owner of land, with acres and acres cannot on his own decide to blow up some old shack on his property though. [Be careful, though.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pan1t4WdYbc) ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-high-explosives-a-practical-guide/500478/18 "2009-06-23T04:47:45Z")
> [@Hirundo82](#): > > [Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY)](http://carolynmccarthy.house.gov/?sectionid=155§iontree=189,155&itemid=1038) is proposing a bill that would do just that. From Rep. McCarthy’s official site: Hopefully this will backfire and end up improving the no fly list! ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-high-explosives-a-practical-guide/500478/19 "2009-06-23T05:35:32Z")
How many people/terrorists are currently on the no fly list would you think? Maybe a couple hundred or a thousand sketchy, dangerous people? Try at least one million people! For a lot of BS reasons. > **[No Fly List](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Fly_List)** > > The No Fly List, maintained by the United States federal government's Terrorist Screening Center (TSC), is one of several lists included in algorithmic rulesets used by government agencies and airlines to decide who to allow to board airline flights. The TSC's No Fly List is a list of people who are prohibited from boarding commercial aircraft for travel within, into, or out of the United States. This list has also been used to divert aircraft away from U.S. airspace that do not have start- o Th... So when you here all this talk about terrorists still being able to buy guns and explosives, take it with a grain of salt. You might be on that list tomorrow. You may already be on it today.