Title 18 › PART I — CRIMES › CHAPTER 40 — IMPORTATION, MANUFACTURE, DISTRIBUTION AND STORAGE OF EXPLOSIVE MATERIALS › § 845
Says the criminal rules about explosives do not apply in certain situations. It does not cover parts of moving explosives that are already regulated by the Department of Transportation or the Department of Homeland Security. It also does not cover medicines that use explosives in official drug forms, shipments of explosives to U.S. or state governments, small arms ammunition, certain antique-firearm items (including commercially made black powder up to 50 pounds and related caps and fuses used only for sporting or cultural purposes), explosives made for the U.S. military under military rules, or display-fireworks shipped to a federally recognized Indian tribe. A person barred from having explosives under section 842(i) can ask the Attorney General to remove that bar. The Attorney General can agree if the person is unlikely to be dangerous and it’s in the public interest. A license holder who asks for relief after an indictment or conviction for a crime punishable by more than 1 year in prison may keep operating under the license while the request is decided. For certain counts about plastic explosives, a defendant can avoid conviction by proving it was a small amount used for lawful research, detection training, or forensics, or that within 3 years after the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 it was or will be part of a military device. “Military device” means items like shells, bombs, mines, grenades, rockets, and similar devices made only for military or police use.
Full Legal Text
Crimes and Criminal Procedure, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Legislative History
Reference
Citation
18 U.S.C. § 845
Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure
Last Updated
Sep 23, 2026
Release point: 119-110