UK store bans sale of fireworks - what ya think?

[BagOLaughs]

Hi Disers!

I'm from the UK and we've had a supermarket ban the sale of fireworks due to the distress that it causes pets, the elderly and it can trigger people with PTSD & other illnesses. I've posted this same thread over on the UK forum to get their thoughts but I'm interested to see if anyone from US/Canada/all the other countries thinks.

I'm not sure how I feel about it. Of course I don't want to upset anyone by having fireworks in the back garden, but they're a part of our heratige. Americans have 4th July, we have guy fawkes night.

This is a friendly discussion so keep it nice.

news on the ban:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-50094658
What is Guy Fawkes night?
http://www.bonfirenight.net/

 

[BadPinkTink]

Im from Ireland and fireworks are illegal in my country, high street shops do not sell them.

Category F1 fireworks can be bought and used by the general public. They include fireworks intended to be used indoors eg party poppers, throw-downs, Christmas crackers and some sparklers.

It is illegal to import, hold, sell or use any other fireworks without a licence.

It is an offence to:

• Light an unlicensed firework
• Throw a lit firework at a person or property, except for low-hazard fireworks
• Have an unlicensed firework
• Have an unlicensed firework with the intention of selling it or giving it to someone else

Most people dont care about the law and huge numbers of people get illegal fireworks either by going to shops in Northern Ireland or on the black market in their home towns. Its totally unregulated.

Over the last number of years I have really started to dislike Halloween here due to all the illegal fireworks. People dont care about the safety of others, and I feel really unsafe being out and about at Halloween time as people just set off fireworks in the gardens. Many fireworks people set off should not be used in residential areas.

 

[BagOLaughs]

Im from Ireland and fireworks are illegal in my country, high street shops do not sell them.

Category F1 fireworks can be bought and used by the general public. They include fireworks intended to be used indoors eg party poppers, throw-downs, Christmas crackers and some sparklers.

It is illegal to import, hold, sell or use any other fireworks without a licence.

It is an offence to:

• Light an unlicensed firework
• Throw a lit firework at a person or property, except for low-hazard fireworks
• Have an unlicensed firework
• Have an unlicensed firework with the intention of selling it or giving it to someone else

Most people dont care about the law and huge numbers of people get illegal fireworks either by going to shops in Northern Ireland or on the black market in their home towns. Its totally unregulated.

Over the last number of years I have really started to dislike Halloween here due to all the illegal fireworks. People dont care about the safety of others, and I feel really unsafe being out and about at Halloween time as people just set off fireworks in the gardens. Many fireworks people set off should not be used in residential areas.

I had no idea they were banned in Ireland! The things you learn. There is a lot that can go wrong when fireworks are set off. Sometimes even when you've followed the instructions to the letter, I've had one fall on its side and hit the garden fence.

I hadn't considered this.

A lot of people are saying that Sainsburys (the supermarket that banned the fireworks) have only done it for the publicity as other large UK supermarkets (Asda & Tesco) are not changing their policies.

 

[BadPinkTink]

@BagOLaughs

Most people dont realise it either and thats where the problem is. People buy un-regulated and unlicensed fireworks and have never been taught firework safety and just set them off in residential areas. Everyone thinks its cool but have no idea of the consequences.

Alot of the time , its people who have moved here from countries where fireworks are legal and they just see nothing wrong with getting them on the black market here and having a bit of fun.

Well for many its not a bit of fun. Its not just on Halloween night that people set off illegal fireworks. For the last week, on most nights you can hear fireworks being set off. And its not in the early evening, last night I heard fireworks at 11pm.

 

[Disneylover99]

We get pop up stores that sell fireworks twice a year, around Victoria Day in May and July1st. I hate them. They’re so dangerous. I have seen sober, relatively intelligent adults light them in residential areas way too close to cars and houses and yeah firing mishaps happen.

 

[_19disnA]

In the US, fireworks are mostly used for July 4 (Independence day) celebrations. We also have many pop up tents sell them and they can be dangerous for a lot of reasons and some are poorly made. Some cities/states make you sign a worthless piece of paper that basically says it is OK to BUY them, but it is ILLEGAL to set them off.....such nonsense. Or you are indicating you are taking them to another state to use. Usually the discussions around banning them relate to the public safety hazard they can cause from injuries resulting from using them.

 

[Hikergirl]

In my state iit s only legal to sell fireworks on certain days throughout the year. Years ago they were completely illegal. Not only do stores like Target and grocery stores carry them, there are pop-up tent stores pretty much everywhere during the selling days.
There are specific types of fireworks that are legal so for those people who want the ones that are illegal they just drive an hour to the state border where just across it is a huge fireworks store.
My thoughts are, if people really want them they will find a way to get them.
A store has every right to decide not to sell them, but I don't think that means people are going to stop using them, they will just go to a different store to buy them.

 

[BadPinkTink]

Regarding Sainsburys stopping selling them, all that will happen is they will lose revenue as Saisnburys customers will just go elsewhere to buy them.

The fireworks are still legal in The UK, so this decision will only harm Sainsburys.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

Sounds similar to when CVS pharmacies in the US stopped selling cigarettes and other tobacco products. Still legal; just a particular retail chain decided to forego such sales.

In New Jersey the sale of fireworks was banned for years. Yet about five years ago many stores (Walmart, Target, etc.) started selling certain types of them, particularly in the weeks leading up to July 4. My local Walmart has a large tent set up in its parking lot for that purpose.

I've been "over" fireworks for at least 15 years. Don't care to go see them, and certainly don't want to set them off myself. Some people in my neighborhood set them off, but they don't overdo it so it doesn't bother me.

Every year in the US there are reports of people (including children) being killed or seriously injured setting off cheaply made fireworks.

 

[_19disnA]

Every year in the US there are reports of people (including children) being killed or seriously injured setting off cheaply made fireworks.

I agree. If there were serious about doing away with dangerous fireworks for home use they should ban the SALE of them. This annual cat/mouse game dealing with who/where you can BUY them accomplishes nothing. After July 4 is over, no one seems to have any interest in trying to solve the problem.

 

[kdonnel]

Virtually every right you exercise might infringe on someone else at any given moment.

The pendulum is always swinging and sometimes you will find your self on one side or the other.

I enjoy using fireworks once or twice a year. I have the right to use them 365 days a year but I am woke enough to know that setting them off more often to the letter of the law would make me someone who was abusing my right and infringing on the right of others to peace and quite.

As hard as it might be for those who have pets that are distressed, the elderly, people with PTSD, and those with other triggered illnesses, they have to understand that the law in Georgia is currently on the side of those who like to use fireworks.

Even if they do not have a legal means to complain about a neighbor that uses fireworks often, they do have the right to ask that neighbor to be more considerate and that neighbor has a moral decision to make, be a positive member of society and work out a compromise with their neighbor, or be an idiot that will eventually be outraged when the pendulum swings back to the other side and they find fireworks illegal once again.

As to the specifics of the UK, it sounds like the store has decided morally they do not wish to sell that legal product. I doubt there is a law that requires them to sell every legal product. The management team has crunched the numbers and they believe that any lost revenue will be made up by how the positive feelings they get by making a difference towards solving a problem they believe exists.

 

[mjkacmom]

They are illegal here, but that doesn’t seem to stop folks from buying them out of state and using them. I’m ok with it to a point (time of day and length of time being used). My dog hates them. https://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/News/Consumer Briefs/fireworks.pdf

 

[Jennasis]

They should be illegal...IMO.

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

Hi Disers!

I'm from the UK and we've had a supermarket ban the sale of fireworks due to the distress that it causes pets, the elderly and it can trigger people with PTSD & other illnesses. I've posted this same thread over on the UK forum to get their thoughts but I'm interested to see if anyone from US/Canada/all the other countries thinks.

I'm not sure how I feel about it. Of course I don't want to upset anyone by having fireworks in the back garden, but they're a part of our heratige. Americans have 4th July, we have guy fawkes night.

This is a friendly discussion so keep it nice.

news on the ban:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-50094658
What is Guy Fawkes night?
http://www.bonfirenight.net/

I think that if the fireworks were restricted to 5th November that would be fine but people using that at other times causes problems, particularly in rural areas.

 

[ronandannette]

We get pop up stores that sell fireworks twice a year, around Victoria Day in May and July1st. I hate them. They’re so dangerous. I have seen sober, relatively intelligent adults light them in residential areas way too close to cars and houses and yeah firing mishaps happen.

I don't know if it's legal to sell fireworks in Alberta - in my entire life I've never seen them for sale anywhere, nor can I ever remember being launched in random places, especially not my neighbourhood. I do LOVE fireworks though and attend lots of professional events. Calgary hosts an annual international competition, has fireworks every night of stampede, and the City puts on shows for Canada Day and NYE. The displays are awe-inspiring. I can't imagine what would be the attraction of shooting off lame little bottle rockets or whatever.

 

[luvsJack]

Legal to sell and legal to set off here, year round. There are restrictions within the city limits though.

We get them on July 4 and for NYE and set them off here in the yard. Our dog isn’t fond of them but I put him in a room on the far side of the house and he is fine then. The sound is more muffled from there.

 

[LSUmiss]

Illegal here & I'm glad. Once we had rude neighbors setting them off all night on NYE, but police came out probably b/c they had the audacity to shoot them off a few houses down from the police chief who also lived in our neighborhood. I was happy b/c I had a sleeping baby that night.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Here in my metro it depends on city and county ordiances.

It's not just injuries either. People burn their houses down. In my neighborhood we're surrounded by trees...so yeah..let's set off fireworks (which are illegal in my city anyways) near a bunch of fuel source Unfortunately every year a few streets away from me jerks decide, much to the annoyance of many of us, to shoot them off. They don't limit either to 4th of July. About 2 months ago they shot some off at 2am. For the police it's just difficult to call them because a) they shoot them off and then they are done b) it's not known exactly who they are or people who do know aren't telling. The police would come if called (non-emergency line) but hard to do much about it without proof either physically seeing it or video evidence.

In my exact city the ordiance is as follows: The sale, use, or possession of fireworks is illegal; this is for personal usage. Commercial/fireworks display-grade is different because you need specific permits and whatnot to shoot those off.

It is not illegal in the county where my in-laws live (which is just above our county and is part of our metro) so they do set them off on 4th of July themselves. It's too loud for me, I'm too close I would guess to them so even with my noise-reduction headphones it's really unpleasant for me.

 

[Feralpeg]

The use of fireworks are actually illegal in Orange County (Orlando), yet sale of them is not illegal. Go figure!

I'd be very happy if they could not be sold here. I never go anywhere on July 4th or New Year's Eve because my dog is terrified by firecrackers. Oddly, we live near Disney and hear the big fireworks every night. She isn't bothered by them at all.

Personally, I think they are a total waste of money. Every year, we hear of people injured by them. Since we are so close to Disney, it always amazes me that people will stand around lighting those pitiful little fountain things instead of watching the amazing show from the Magic Kingdom. I don't get it.

 

[_19disnA]

The use of fireworks are actually illegal in Orange County (Orlando), yet sale of them is not illegal. Go figure!

I agree, that is the 'cat/mouse' game I referred to earlier. People buy them with the intent to USE them. No one buys fireworks to put them into storage.....LOL. It would be far more effective and easier to enforce a ban on the SALE rather then expecting the police to chase down the hundreds/thousands of people who buy them and only break the law when they USE them.

As long as each county/state has differing laws regarding fireworks, the problem will never get resolved.