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Independence Day Afterword

By now, all the red, white and blue bunting has been taken down and stored. The last notes of “The Stars and Stripes Forever” have faded into silence. The last advertisements for “4th of July” sales have stopped running in the media. The last litter from local parades has been swept up and discarded. In short, Independence Day is behind us. 

With the fervor surrounding the celebration now ended, let me take this opportunity to voice a grievance.

I HATE fireworks.

My guess is I am not alone. Fireworks may be a tradition on July 4th and New Year’s Eve, but they are scary and dangerous and an imposition on those of us who do not enjoy them.

Even those who enjoy fireworks must know they are anything but an unmitigated pleasure. Those people who were too close to one of this year’s explosions are discovering the ringing in their ears will not go away. Others injured when fireworks hit them, burned them or went off in their hands are realizing the damage is permanent. Some of those whose lives were disrupted by wildfires caused by fireworks have returned to their homes, but others whose homes have burned cannot return and may never live in their chosen communities again. Then there is the air pollution caused by fireworks that takes hours to dissipate, the waste from spent fireworks that takes time and money to remove, and the frightened dogs cowering under beds from all the explosions.

Yes, I have experienced fireworks. As a child, I set off a few firecrackers on pavement, small ones approximately the diameter of a pencil. As an adult on vacation, I dutifully took my wife and child to the annual Independence Day fireworks display in Monterey for more than a decade. We spread a blanket at Dennis the Menace Park, maybe a half-mile away from the beach where they were launched. My wife and child delighted in the colors and booms, while I kept my hands firmly over my ears and ground my teeth at every explosion.

Despite my dislike for fireworks in general, I believe there is a place for locally sponsored fireworks events. They help bring communities together, they are run by pyrotechnic professionals and they typically are held at safe locations. Plus, with the exception of those living nearby, the people attending such events want to be there; those of us (dutiful parents excepted) who don’t like fireworks don’t go. 

The same cannot be said for “safe and sane” fireworks or illegal fireworks. 

“Safe and sane” fireworks are neither; they burn hot enough to light wildfires and scorch flesh, and the explosive ones are loud enough – at close proximity - to cause hearing loss. Public service organizations that raise funds from “safe and sane” fireworks sales need to find another revenue source. If those groups were forced to pay the cost of injuries and damage caused by the fireworks they sell, they would stop selling them immediately.

Illegal fireworks are illegal for a reason. Some are intended for use by pyrotechnic professionals only. Most are made in unsafe foreign factories and most are sold by unlicensed, unregulated individuals, neither of which care about the havoc their products can cause. They are made to be powerful and brilliant and they definitely are dangerous. In 2020, about 15,500 people were treated in emergency rooms for fireworks injuries and at least 18 people died, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

A ban on the use of both “safe and sane” and illegal fireworks, with substantial fines for those who sell them or set them off, would make Independence Day celebrations for many of us much more pleasant. Sadly, this probably will not happen. 

So I have an alternative proposal. People may continue to use “safe and sane” and even illegal fireworks, so long as they restrict that use to the privacy of their homes. The living room would be my recommendation, but the bedroom is another possibility (fireworks in the bedroom – what a concept!). The same could apply to celebratory gunfire; perfectly okay so long as firearms use and the rounds discharged remain inside the house. Those who truly embrace these activities should have no problem doing them within the confines of their own homes. Of course, renters should check with their landlords first.

Yes, suggesting we restrict an activity on a day celebrating independence seems wrong. But consider this restriction would provide more independence for the large number of people happy to do without impromptu fireworks and still provide the relatively small number of people who indulge in shooting them off an opportunity to do so. Plus, it gives ambulances and fire departments an actual address, should they be needed. It’s a “win-win-win.”

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