Let us suppose, for a moment, that Superman is real. There is a real nice Kryptonian flying around doing good deeds, saving lives, and helping old ladies across the street. He has all the powers and weaknesses of the comic book hero.
Now, in this scenario, what should be the legal status of Kryptonite? This is a green rock that only has one purpose, and that is to kill Superman, a man who 9 out of 10 of Metropoleans think is a good guy. He even seems to be on the side of the United States government.
And you have to admit, it would be suspicious if you saw a kilo of it sitting on someone’s desk. Why would he have it? There is only one reason.
But then it only affects one person.
Well, what if there was a rock out there that killed U.S. Presidents. (And I don’t mean like granite at a high velocity to the head. Stay on topic people.) Wouldn’t the government have a very vested interest in making sure Presidentite was kept safely away.
But what if there was a rock that killed Bob, and only Bob. Bob being a nice guy who lives down the street, an accountant who pays his taxes on time. Nothing really interesting about him, other than a huge allergy to Bobite. Would Bobite need to be controlled?
But back to that hunk of material sitting on someone’s desk. What if, instead of Kryptonite, it was plastique. An easily detonated explosive. Same story. Awfully suspicious to find it sitting on a desk.
But if we use that analogy, we are getting into NRA territory. The right to bear Kryptonite. Everyone has a right to defend themselves from Kryptonians. If owning Kryptonite is against the law, then only criminals will have Kryptonite! (Well, duh!)
I can see the U.S. Military stockpiling the green rock in case Superman suddenly becomes a threat. That’s just common sense. And maybe some research centers will be allowed to have it to study. That nice Mr. Lex Luthor says he wants to test its radioactive properties, so why shouldn’t we let him have some.
However, if the National Kryptonite Association (with its sister organization, the NRA) forms and starts demanding legalization of Kryptonite, then I can see things being awkward for Superman. I could easily see him immigrating to Canada, where there is no second amendment making him easy to kill.