A grenade is a small explosive device, a little bomb that can be thrown by hand. The earliest grenades were contained in ceramic jars and thrown by ancient Byzantine soldiers.

Hand grenades are regulated under the National Firearms Act ("NFA"), a federal law first passed in 1934 and amended by the Crime Control Act of 1968. The 1968 amendments made it illegal to possess "destructive devices," which includes grenades.

What is the lethal killing distance of a grenade? Without body armour or protection, a single grenade can kill an individual up to 10 metres away and can cause serious injuries up to 20 metres away. Shrapnel can reach as far as 200+ metres distance from the detonation point. However, it becomes much less effective.

Modern fragmentation grenades, such as the United States M67 grenade, have a wounding radius of 15 m (49 ft) – half that of older style grenades, which can still be encountered – and can be thrown about 40 m (130 ft).