I'm torn on the issue. I still enjoy setting off fireworks, though that may just be the kid in me who refuses to grow up. But, I also understand that there are potential property damage/personal injury issues with them. I do know that a $500 fine is meaningless to some redneck asshole that just dropped $2500 on a shit ton of fireworks. Those things ain't cheap any more. The last time I bought fireworks, the cheapest thing in the store was $3 pack of firecrackers, 10 to a pack, and there were people there with shopping carts full of the stuff. When you look at the states where they are mostly (Oregon) or completely (Colorado) banned, you sure as fuck can't tell from the first through the tenth or so. One guy I talked to in Corvallis, after getting busted with illegals, getting them confiscated and getting fined, said he was going "back to the house to get some more." He was planning on going to a nearby park with his kids and setting them off there instead of along the waterside where they could see the city's show.
Maybe some areas could be reserved for people who want to set off their own shows (or just blow the hell out of some tin cans) and some seriously stiff fines ($10,000 and up depending on what you're setting off) for anyone setting them off elsewhere would help curtail the problem. A slap on the wrist $500 fine isn't gonna do shit beyond generating a little revenue for the local cop shop. Unless it's made illegal to import them into the country, and it's made a federal crime akin to smuggling to have them drop shipped right to your house, they aren't going away. Wyoming has three or four state parks where it is legal to use them, on the July 4th only (though I don't know what kind of fine structure they have), and they seem to have far fewer problems with them than we do here, even though Wyoming sells them everywhere, all year long.
Maybe some areas could be reserved for people who want to set off their own shows (or just blow the hell out of some tin cans) and some seriously stiff fines ($10,000 and up depending on what you're setting off) for anyone setting them off elsewhere would help curtail the problem. A slap on the wrist $500 fine isn't gonna do shit beyond generating a little revenue for the local cop shop. Unless it's made illegal to import them into the country, and it's made a federal crime akin to smuggling to have them drop shipped right to your house, they aren't going away. Wyoming has three or four state parks where it is legal to use them, on the July 4th only (though I don't know what kind of fine structure they have), and they seem to have far fewer problems with them than we do here, even though Wyoming sells them everywhere, all year long.
Thief and assassin for hire. Member in good standing of the Rogues Guild.
