It typically doesn’t take long for gun control supporters to bring up explosives when talking about the Second Amendment. Or they’ll go all out and bring up "nuclear weapons". It’s as if they think that because explosives and nuclear weapons are restricted from private ownership that it means firearms can also be reasonably restricted.
But there are a few things they aren’t taking into account when making such an assertion.
The problem with nuclear weapons, and why I believe they can be reasonably and severely restricted even with the Second Amendment, is one of containment. If I fail to properly contain my ammunition, I put only myself in danger. If I fail to properly contain a nuclear weapon, there’s a much higher risk of collateral damage. Yes I’m sure you can probably conjure a ton of "what if" scenarios in which improperly contained ammunition can pose a danger to others beside myself, but in general, improperly contained ammunition will be strictly a problem for me and those within close proximity of that ammunition.
Further, discharging firearms in general has a limited impact, even when you’re talking about someone walking through a shopping mall or school with an AR-15. Unintentionally discharging a firearm also has a limited impact. Detonating a nuclear weapon, even unintentionally? Not so limited. When an accident has the potential to destroy half a city (or in my case, likely the equivalent of the entirety of the suburb where I reside), the government has a legitimate reason to step in.
I also live in an apartment building, so even owning a small explosive can pose a danger to the other residents in my building and in the adjacent building.
Now if I live out in the middle of nowhere where my nearest neighbor is a mile away (or more), then owning small explosives will only be a problem for my household if they unintentionally detonate. But even out there, unintentionally detonating a nuclear weapon would still pose dangers to others, even if they’re outside the immediate blast radius.
In other words, the mere existence of the nuclear weapon or explosive does pose a clear danger to others outside my household simply from the risk, however slight, of an unintentional detonation. The same, however, cannot be said of firearms and ammunition.
