The South Bend Tribune has an editorial on the new fireworks law. I think they’re pretty accurate with their opening:
Indiana’s old fireworks law was ridiculous. Indiana’s new fireworks law is dangerous. We wouldn’t call that an improvement.
They stated that the purpose of the new law is to raise money for the state, not to limit the use of dangerous fireworks. I can see where fireworks safety advocates wouldn’t like the new law. You can set off pretty much anything in your own back yard. On the other hand, the old law was so deliberately unenforceable that I don’t think the new law is really a step backward.
Personally, I haven’t really made up my mind on what the law’s approach to fireworks ought to be. I was certainly no stickler for safety when I was a teenager with bags full of bottle rockets. So the new law won’t influence my vote. But certainly those for whom a strong fireworks safety policy is important have cause to be disappointed.
Two other states having very permissive fireworks sales laws are Alabama and Florida.There are signs in bordering states announcing how far it is to buy fireworks and it’s obviuously BIG BUSINESS and very profitable. It”s like the old saying when I was growing up: buy your LIQUOR in Illinois and your CIGARETTES in Indiana.People know where to go,and will go, to buy what is forbidden or they’re addicted to.And ‘sin taxes’added on might even increase Indiana revenue.
Now there will be signs in all the bordering states to Indiana announcing how far fireworks sales are.
I was a very serious no-nonsense college student,but one June some us who were still around for summer decided to drive to MISSOURI( the nearest state that sold fireworks at that time)so we could celebrate the 4th.I will never forget that 20+ hour round trip just to load up un fireworks wondering if the police would stop us at the border. So, yes, there is a strong market for fireworks,since they’re banned almost every state.( Indiana would have closer)
Raising ever more funds seems to be the sole purpose and function of far too many of our governments, at any level. There’s more to it than mere tax & spend, but you would hardly know it from looking at so much of the law that’s written anymore.
Reality is, most of us like fireworks, and keeping people in their own backyards on the 4th of July will likely make the roads safer. It really is a matter of personal (and parental) responsibility, and any move to get away from the “nanny state” is a good move in my book.
Did it make much sense that I couldn’t legally put a bottle rocket in my kid’s hands, but I could give him deer rifle and let him have at it?
The key issue here will be longevity of the law. The legislature has made a move that will put all the blood from the inevitable fireworks injuries on its hands. I don’t think it will last long, as the legislature is responsibility adverse. We’ll see.
That’s a good point. With that in mind, this might have been a penny-wise, pound foolish lobbying effort on the part of the fireworks industry.
Previously, there was sort of a plausible deniability on the part of the legislature with respect to fireworks injuries. When the inevitable injuries occur, as you say, blame will be placed on the new law. If the legislature revisits the issue, it might result in legislation the fireworks industry likes less than the old law.
I wonder how often this will conflict with a city’s noise ordinance. The bill allows someone to shoot of fireworks until 11pm any night of the year and until midnight on holidays (oh joy). I believe Indianapolis (Marion County) has a noise ordinance that prohibits “loud, unnecessary or unusual noise,†including yelling or the use of musical instruments. Are fireworks necessary? Usual?
It is my opinion that many cities’ noise ordinances have gone by the wayside. Growing up, it was always my impression that loud (or non-existent) mufflers and loud stereos were a sure way to get the attention of a policeman and receive a ticket. Now we have cars and trucks with subwoofers that equal a 10.5 earthquake and large bore mufflers that are almost as loud. Only a handful of towns (Elkhart comes to mind) have taken action against loud stereos while loud mufflers continue to grow louder.
Some may say that the police have bigger issues to deal with, but this is a quality of life issue. Loud stereos and loud mufflers are not a right, it is a choice to impress others. For those of us who are not in the “competition”, what about us? The same applies to fireworks. Those of us who do not want to experience fireworks displays before or after the 4th of July now have to live with the noise.
I was absolutely incredulous when this bill was passed. Used to be in Indiana, you couldn’t buy exploding or projectile-type fireworks in Indiana at all. There were always some people who would travel to Tennessee or elsewhere to get these types of fireworks, but they were relatively few and far between. Then, you could buy them here, only if you “swore” you wouldn’t use them in Indiana. Lo and behold, big surprise, that was pretty much ignored, & it sure appears to me that the use of these types of fireworks here exploded, so to speak. At least, however, there was some official recognition that these types of fireworks are detrimental to public health, safety, and welfare.
Now, all bets are off. The restriction to using these fireworks on one’s own property is meaningless as far as I’m concerned. I live in a neighborhood where the houses are fairly close together. I have several neighbors who have been shooting off the previously “illegal” fireworks from their property for years. My yard & my roof end up littered with cardboard shrapnel debris & bottle rocket sticks every 4th of July. Some neighbors are “good” about cleaning up afterwards; others are not. And if you’re outside when they’re being shot off, there’s a good chance a piece of hot debris will drift over to your property & land on your head if you’re not careful, as happened to my daughter last year. Not to mention the noise–I had one neighbor who decided to shoot off some super-loud projectiles several weeks after the 4th of July last year, which promptly woke up & terrified my 4-year-old. This was at 9 p.m.–an 11 p.m. “time limit” is ridiculous–and led to an unfriendly confrontation with my neighbor.
I’m fairly libertarian when it comes to government regulation of private conduct, but strongly believe government should intevene to outlaw “private” activity that directly and negatively affects bystanders. Exploding & projectile fireworks do exactly that. The “solution” to the previous disregard of Indiana fireworks law was to return to the old system of not allowing the sale of highly dangerous fireworks at all–not to “legalize” all of them!
Glenn,
I totally agree. Banning all fireworks that do not stay in the ground is the only way to insure that it stays on your lawn.
If there are 3 fools on my street setting off arials, and my house catches fire, who is to blame? Before, I could (and did) call the police when something like that was going on, and it was usually 1 person. I knew who I could go to for damges if it came up. Now, with the potental for a whole street full of people doing it, it will be me paying for someone else’s foolishness.
The new law has its pros and cons.
If enforced, it will put an end to people throwing firecrackers under cars and under people walking along the sidewalk.
It will also put an end to all-night firecracker parties. I had a friend to be awakened at two or three in the morning one year by loud explosions. As he didn’t live in the best of neighborhoods, he thought it might be a gang fight at first. Instead, it was the neighbors deciding to have a noisy party in the middle of the night.
It will finally do what has needed to be done for a long time and restrict the sales of fireworks of ANY kind to adults. I’ve always approved of the use of fountains, snakes, sparklers, and their ilk for any day of the year and any time of the day–but didn’t approve of kids being able to buy them and play with them on their own.
This is what I like about the new law.
However, I find the new law full of holes that need to be mended.
If I were revising the law, I would keep the good parts of it that I’ve just mentioned.
To it, I would add these rules:
Flying fireworks should be out-of-the-question for using even on The Fourth Of July unless you’re at least 1000 feet away from the property of a person who hasn’t consented to fireworks being used on his/her property.
One year, we had neighbors setting off bottle rockets in their yard (not on the Fourth, either, or any other holiday), and the neighbor two homes south of them found them on his roof the next day. We’re not talking postage-stamp-sized lots, either, but very large and wide ones, so that shows that flying fireworks such as bottle-rockets not only don’t come down in the yard from which they were launched but, also, are capable of traveling several hundred feet.
So, no flying fireworks unless you either live on a spread or else are surrounded by nothing but neighbors who don’t mind.
Consumer fireworks that explode noisily should be limited to the following times: Fourth Of July from noon until midnight and fifteen minutes on either side of the midnight starting a new year. These, as with all other fireworks, should only be used on your own property or that of someone who has given you permission to do so.
Fireworks that restrict themselves to the user’s property when it comes to traveling and sound could be used any day of the year when it comes to celebrating something or simply just being in the mood for fireworks–but it would still be good to restrict their use to between noon and nine or ten p.m. on days other than Memorial Day Weekend, Fourth Of July Weekend, Labor Day Weekend, Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day so that freak accidents could be noticed and escaped from should they occur.
On those holidays, confined-to-property, quiet fireworks could be set off from nine or ten in the morning until midnight.
Even on your own property, fireworks use shouldn’t take place without an adult present. Not even snakes.
My cousins almost lost their dog several years ago, thanks to loud firecrackers being set off by the neighbors. King (a German Shepherd mix) was in their fenced-in backyard. He was also on a chain long enough that he could roam around the yard but wouldn’t be able to bother any of the neighbors.
When my cousins returned home after being gone for a couple of hours, they heard the loud exploding of neighbors’ firecrackers. They knew that this noise wouldn’t set well with King, so they decided to bring him indoors until the racket stopped.
They were horrified to find him hanging by his chain (which had become a noose) after attempting to jump the fence to get away from the noise.
Fortunately, they were able to save King–and, because exploding fireworks weren’t legal at the time, they also had some leverage when it came to calling the authorities to put a stop to this happening again in the future.
People should have the right to the quiet enjoyment of their property. They shouldn’t have to worry about whether or not their pets are in danger of being terrified by loud explosions on any day of the year–nor should they, themselves, be subjected to excessive racket.
Which brings up something that Dustin pointed out–how “recreation” producing a ridiculous amount of decibels of ugly noise isn’t being stopped by the laws now on the books. I think it’s time that they start enforcing some of those laws.
Anyway, that’s my take on things.