Commonwealth Displays Fireworks

At the local level, it is normally your city council, county board of supervisors, or township council that enacts local laws about fireworks. The local police or fire deparment only enforce the laws. If you want the local laws where you live changed to allow you to buy and use fireworks, you need to lobby your local elected officials.

Every Fourth of July, newspapers and TV news shows all over the U.S. are filled with anti-fireworks propaganda articles, usually showing a demonstration put on by the local fire department or police department. These demonstrations inevitably involve a complete lack of safety precautions and unwittingly show you exactly the wrong way to use fireworks. Typically they blow up a watermelon with an M-80, and try to claim that proves how dangerous a sparkler is. Or, they try to ignite a wood shingle with a single bottle rocket - but at one of those spectacles in California, they obviously pre-soaked the shingle with lighter fluid to make it catch fire instantly. It's bullshit. It's blatant propaganda masquerading as "public service" and the news media inevitably eats up the whole scam hook, line and stinker.

You should never, ever let this type of pseudo-journalism just slip by uncontested. Write letters to the media immediately after any such story is published or broadcast. This year, scour the newspapers in your area from Sunday, June 29th to Friday, July 4th, looking for any anti-fireworks articles or letters. Also watch as many of the local TV news broadcasts as you can. Don't let a single anti-fireworks story go by without a response from you.

In your letters, emphasize that fireworks are used safely by millions of people in the United States every year. Don't come across like a fanatic; try to come across as an ordinary, law-abiding citizen who just wants to celebrate Independence Day in the traditional way. Here are some facts you can use to back up your position:

• The United States government considers all fireworks which comply with the current CPSC regulations for consumer fireworks to be safe for public use.
• There are several classifications for fireworks, but most people are not aware of the different classifications, and simply lump all fireworks together in their minds.
  
• "M-80s", "Cherry Bombs", and other very large firecrackers are not legal anywhere in the United States. Such items are not considered consumer fireworks.
• Of all the injuries that occur each year in the United States, only 1 out of every 7,000 injuries is attributed to the use of fireworks.
• Of those injuries which do involve fireworks, the vast majority result from an abuse of fireworks. Only a tiny minority result from faulty fireworks products.
• Although consumption of fireworks in the U.S. has increased in recent years from 29 million pounds per year to 80 million pounds per year, the rates of fireworks-related injuries have actually decreased. The injury rate, per 100,000 pounds of fireworks used, dropped from 38.3 in 1976 down to 10.1 in 1995 - a 74% drop in the injury rate.
• U.S. youths, 5 to 14 years old, are 60 times more likely to be injured by bicycles than by fireworks.
• 99.4% of the reported fires in the United States are not attributed to the use of fireworks.
• Consumer fireworks do not explode in mass, and will not spontaneously ignite when properly stored.
• The "Safe and Sane" seal means simply that a state has approved that item for sale within that state.
• Many fireworks which are not approved as "Safe and Sane" in some states are, nevertheless, legal consumer fireworks in many other states, and are considered safe for public use by the U.S. government.
• The June 1995 issue of Consumers' Research magazine compares product-related injury statistics, estimating the total number of injuries per year for the following types of products:

  Bicycles: 600,000
  In-line skates: 76,000
  Trampolines: 55,000
  Aquariums/pet supplies: 32,000
  Skateboards: 28,000
  Fireworks: 12,500

• In an article titled, "Where's the smoke...(Dangers of using Fireworks is Overpublicized," the June 1995 issue of Consumers' Research makes the following statements:
  "[Fireworks are] safer than skiing, surfing, rock climbing, scuba diving, hunting or fishing."
  "Far more damage is done to others each year by accidents involving skateboards and in-line skates than by fireworks."
  "Permitting American families to keep a five-gallon bucket around the house accounts for 10 times as many childhood deaths each year as fireworks do."
  "As for fires, in 1991, the seemingly innocuous backyard barbecue grill caused more fires, and more injuries, than fireworks did."
• Even among heat-producing consumer products, fireworks are far from the leading cause of injuries. The Consumer Product Safety Commission estimated in 1987 the number of annual injuries caused by heat-producing consumer products:
  

  Cooking ranges: 38,367
  Stoves & space heaters: 33,357
  Cigarettes & lighters: 20,648
  Gasoline & fuels: 15,733
  Chimneys & fireplaces: 13,766
  BBQ grills & equipment: 12,318
  Fireworks: 9,000
  

• What's really injuring kids? The 1987 injury surveillance report from the Consumer Product Safety commission estimates the number of injuries requiring emergency room treatment, per 100,000 children in the age 5 to 14 category:
  

  Bicycles: 978
  Stairs and ramps: 599
  Baseball: 321
  Skateboards: 158
  Ice & roller skating: 152
  ATVs, mopeds & minibikes: 139
  Fences: 132
  Pencils & pens: 64
  Fishing: 55
  BB guns & pellet guns: 43
  Fireworks: 16