Firecrackers, roman candles, etc are illegal in New Jersey

Or, as my favorite tee-shirt in New Orleans said: "It's not the heat: It's the stupidity."

The blow your hand off stuff was largely cherry bombs and m-80's..... Real ones, not the flash powder stuff.

I had one experience with an M80. Was my last. I destroyed the other ones I had safely and trashed them. I've been around plenty of things that go boom but I was shocked by just how powerful it was. Incredibly, incredibly dangerous.

The airborne consumer stuff is good fun but has zero place in Maplewood. Houses are way too close together. If you're setting off aerials you are part of the reason all consumer fireworks are illegal in the most densely populated state.

To the all good fun folks- I'm with you. All good responsible fun. Go in a field and set off a grenade. I don't care. But when you hear your neighbor firing mortars on his sprawling .25 acres, you know why you can't have bottle rockets

BG9 said:
How very boring our country has become.
There's this constant need and desire for some of you to live in a protective cocoon of safety. Regulate every possible thing to eliminate any chance of possible danger and inconvenience. Only allow government sanctioned activities with the required permits and liability insurance. Usually the loudest criers are the ones constantly pushing to regulate us into their desired safety cocoon with politicians happily complying to pass their desired laws.
When I was a kid we all did fireworks. The only thing we ever injured were our ear drums. Sure, some get injured by fireworks but that is rare. A lot less than those who are injured by motor vehicles - 90 deaths and 10,000 injured every day. But we have the firework screamers. If really worried about danger, then why not scream about motor vehicles? Ban them except in cases of necessity.
We regulate our parks and beaches to death. God forbid if someone brings a bottle of wine or beer into a park or beach. When I visited other countries that regulation did not exist. Just as they don't criminalize those under 21 who buy an alcoholic beverage.
Lets beat the excitement and fun out of our lives.

100% backed. Over the last 30 years the Nanny State has blown out of control. Too many people are spending time on the Internet reading their depressing Facebook feeds and watching local news. In real life all over the world people are living their lives. In Europe people drink freely in the streets and their violence and accident stats are lower than ours.

A few firecracker wrappers on the sidewalk one day a year isn't hurting anyone. They should make a separate America for the crybabies and the complainers

Jason Pierre-Paul. Ugh.

BG9 said:
How very boring our country has become.
There's this constant need and desire for some of you to live in a protective cocoon of safety. Regulate every possible thing to eliminate any chance of possible danger and inconvenience. Only allow government sanctioned activities with the required permits and liability insurance. Usually the loudest criers are the ones constantly pushing to regulate us into their desired safety cocoon with politicians happily complying to pass their desired laws.
When I was a kid we all did fireworks. The only thing we ever injured were our ear drums. Sure, some get injured by fireworks but that is rare. A lot less than those who are injured by motor vehicles - 90 deaths and 10,000 injured every day. But we have the firework screamers. If really worried about danger, then why not scream about motor vehicles? Ban them except in cases of necessity.
We regulate our parks and beaches to death. God forbid if someone brings a bottle of wine or beer into a park or beach. When I visited other countries that regulation did not exist. Just as they don't criminalize those under 21 who buy an alcoholic beverage.
Lets beat the excitement and fun out of our lives.

Take it to the Free Speech Zone buddy!

The 12-year-old boy who died in Nashville wasn't "stupid" of his own accord.

mjh said:

BG9 said:
How very boring our country has become.
There's this constant need and desire for some of you to live in a protective cocoon of safety. Regulate every possible thing to eliminate any chance of possible danger and inconvenience. Only allow government sanctioned activities with the required permits and liability insurance. Usually the loudest criers are the ones constantly pushing to regulate us into their desired safety cocoon with politicians happily complying to pass their desired laws.
When I was a kid we all did fireworks. The only thing we ever injured were our ear drums. Sure, some get injured by fireworks but that is rare. A lot less than those who are injured by motor vehicles - 90 deaths and 10,000 injured every day. But we have the firework screamers. If really worried about danger, then why not scream about motor vehicles? Ban them except in cases of necessity.
We regulate our parks and beaches to death. God forbid if someone brings a bottle of wine or beer into a park or beach. When I visited other countries that regulation did not exist. Just as they don't criminalize those under 21 who buy an alcoholic beverage.
Lets beat the excitement and fun out of our lives.

This is from someone who's never worked in an emergency room.

I know quite a few EMTs and paramedics who love blowing things up. Admittedly, they don't work IN an emergency room.

I grew up with a group of friends who used to shoot bottle rockets AT each other. It's a wonder none of us died. But it was a town of 500 with cornfields all around us. It would be even less smart to do that around here. I'd just like some sparklers and smoke snakes for my kids.

how can you die from a bottle rocket?

Well, there were more than just bottle rockets. You could certainly go blind from a bottle rocket though.

mjh said:

BG9 said:
How very boring our country has become.
There's this constant need and desire for some of you to live in a protective cocoon of safety. Regulate every possible thing to eliminate any chance of possible danger and inconvenience. Only allow government sanctioned activities with the required permits and liability insurance. Usually the loudest criers are the ones constantly pushing to regulate us into their desired safety cocoon with politicians happily complying to pass their desired laws.
When I was a kid we all did fireworks. The only thing we ever injured were our ear drums. Sure, some get injured by fireworks but that is rare. A lot less than those who are injured by motor vehicles - 90 deaths and 10,000 injured every day. But we have the firework screamers. If really worried about danger, then why not scream about motor vehicles? Ban them except in cases of necessity.
We regulate our parks and beaches to death. God forbid if someone brings a bottle of wine or beer into a park or beach. When I visited other countries that regulation did not exist. Just as they don't criminalize those under 21 who buy an alcoholic beverage.
Lets beat the excitement and fun out of our lives.

This is from someone who's never worked in an emergency room.

You have no idea in what fields I worked in. I worked in three different unrelated fields.

You ever seen an emergency room on a normal night? Go to Mt Sinai in Queens. Be there at 10 at night on a normal weekday. See the 20 to 40 people stacked, waiting to be treated with some beds placed in the hallway because their very large emergency room is full. This is a very serious emergency room, where they are all lying on beds, not in chairs waiting for a headache or some "free" emergency care. Its a receiving hospital for the FDNY ambulance service. See the 2 doctors, the aides and nurses run around like rabbits trying to clear their "patients" out of emergency. The 4th of July or New Years Eve fireworks related emergencies are trivial blips compared to their normal "business." So, don't give me speeches about the emergency room and the fireworks crisis you imagine exist in emergency rooms.

I've seen three people terminally killed in accidents. One person had his back broken in such a manner that there was a 60 degree angle on his middle back, going backwards, an unnatural and unforgettable sight. A train accident.

I've seen a cut where the blood squirted 15 feet. I thought "wow, amazing, blood squirting that far." Also, unforgettable because until I saw it I didn't realize blood can squirt that far.

ridski said:
Fireworks are super dangerous. That's the point. So you follow the instructions, and you don't eff around with them and you light one or two at a time and everyone has a great time and gives the ER guys and girls the night off. But you have to respect them

So are cars, one thousand times more dangerous than fireworks statistically. What really keeps emergency rooms busy are vehicle accidents. Many areas of the country do pretty well with zero firework regulation or zero enforcement. We don't see a firework crisis in those parts.

PeggyC said:
Yeah, well, I'm glad you never got injured, BG9. Our neighbors always got fireworks when I was a kid, and one year a cousin got his finger blown off. True story.
And for the record, I loathe fireworks that are all noise and no visual beauty. Pointless. And yes, dangerous, no matter what you like to think in your mental cocoon.
Carry on.

I don't like them either when they are just noise. I've never liked firecrackers and M80's. I did like sparklers, roman candles and rockets.

I'm also glad you were never injured, PeggyC. I've seen three fatal accidents, two careless, one drunken. True story.

I don't have a mental cocoon. I know risks. Fireworks are a minor risk compared to other risks.

BG9 said:

ridski said:
Fireworks are super dangerous. That's the point. So you follow the instructions, and you don't eff around with them and you light one or two at a time and everyone has a great time and gives the ER guys and girls the night off. But you have to respect them

So are cars, one thousand times more dangerous than fireworks statistically. What really keeps emergency rooms busy are vehicle accidents. Many areas of the country do pretty well with zero firework regulation or zero enforcement. We don't see a firework crisis in those parts.

Hi, I'm ridski. You may remember me from such posts as The One You Concurred With On The Previous Page. Perhaps you may wish to read that one again, and its follow up, before agreeing with me in that tone.

Im guessing most fireworks these days are made in China so no worries about manufacturing standards.

Fireworks makers are no match for the ability of people to come up with remarkably bad ideas like using your head as a launching pad.

ridski said:

BG9 said:

ridski said:
Fireworks are super dangerous. That's the point. So you follow the instructions, and you don't eff around with them and you light one or two at a time and everyone has a great time and gives the ER guys and girls the night off. But you have to respect them

So are cars, one thousand times more dangerous than fireworks statistically. What really keeps emergency rooms busy are vehicle accidents. Many areas of the country do pretty well with zero firework regulation or zero enforcement. We don't see a firework crisis in those parts.

Hi, I'm ridski. You may remember me from such posts as The One You Concurred With On The Previous Page. Perhaps you may wish to read that one again, and its follow up, before agreeing with me in that tone.

I know. The tone wasn't really for you. It was just to make a point of fireworks being a blip in the real world of emergency care. Often, those who decry and are agonized over fireworks come up with the usual canned responses such "you never worked in an emergency room."

tjohn said:
Fireworks makers are no match for the ability of people to come up with remarkably bad ideas like using your head as a launching pad.

Sadly, stupidity can't be programmed out of people. Sometimes you do have a defect where a rocket or candle shoots at a right angle. But then we have defects with vehicles too and stupid people who drive.

There's a point when trying to regulate all risk out of existence becomes self-defeating. You create a bored frustrated society where risk is applied, often destructively, in other ways.

BG9 said:

tjohn said:
Fireworks makers are no match for the ability of people to come up with remarkably bad ideas like using your head as a launching pad.

Sadly, stupidity can't be programmed out of people. Sometimes you do have a defect where a rocket or candle shoots at a right angle. But then we have defects with vehicles too and stupid people who drive.
There's a point when trying to regulate all risk out of existence becomes self-defeating. You create a bored frustrated society where risk is applied, often destructively, in other ways.

Yes, I agree with you with the proviso that I am OK regulating the stupidity of others when it presents a risk to people who are acting responsibly.

How fireworks stack up next to traffic accidents is not even comparing applies and oranges... it's more like comparing apples with watermelons, the disparity is so great. Yes, there are more people in the ER as a result of traffic accidents than from fireworks accidents. But this is entirely irrelevant to the point being discussed.

The fact that there are many people out there stupid enough to do themselves serious harm with fireworks tells me it's a good idea to regulate them, especially in areas where a firework gone wrong can burn down your house, or your neighbor's house. Or take off your hand or burn through to your brain, if you are really an idiot.

Yes, the kid who lost a finger was using cherry bombs. I thought that was the name I remembered, but I wasn't sure. I never wanted anything to do with them.

But then, I'm also the one who cowered in a store and would not come out when my parents thought taking my brother and me to Chinatown for the Chinese New Year would be fun. Talk about sudden loud noises! Firecrackers everywhere, underfoot and overhead.