# Ban 'em all!

Category: Let's talk

## Post 1 by sugarbaby (The voice of reason) on Monday, 31-Oct-2005 7:00:27

Well it’s that time of year again when we celebrate the fall of guy fawkes by burning thousands of pounds worth of fireworks.
This weekend, a dog was killed when some men (and I use the term loosely), tied fireworks to it and then proceeded to take pictures of it using their mobile phones.
Every year my animals and countless animals across the country cower behind sofas because they are so terrified of the bangs that they daren’t venture out into the night.
So what is it that makes us spend thousands on these things every year. I say ban ‘em all, make fireworks for organized displays only!

## Post 2 by Resonant (Find me alive.) on Monday, 31-Oct-2005 7:21:13

In Australia they are banned, which has as much to do with bush fires as it does with personal safety. I'm not sure I agree with it. Which isn't to say I don't think they can be dangerous, and disruptive, but everyone has a bit of pyro in them, some more than others, and let's face it, kids are going to play with fire. Maybe it's best that they get it out of their system once a year, in public, under some sort of supervision, and have a good time doing it? Cases like the dog you mentioned are awful, and I hope the bastards are put away, but I don't think banning the means will stop occasional cruelty. it just doesn't work like that.

## Post 3 by PorkInCider (Wind assisted.) on Monday, 31-Oct-2005 7:21:16

Again we agree Claire, I've always said that we should only be able to have fireworks at controlled displays. I'm not sure what the law is here now, but recall there was a new law passed last year, which has made fireworks in the street a lot less frequent than it used to be. There was a time when I didn't feel safe walking the streets after dark because of the number of fireworks being set by kids, but now they seem to be much fewer.

## Post 4 by PorkInCider (Wind assisted.) on Monday, 31-Oct-2005 7:25:30

Another point here that I just considered is the fact that we have a ban on guns, so why should we allow young people to play with gunpowder? they're just mini bombs, which can do incredible levels of damage, so yes, again I say lets ban them.

## Post 5 by wildebrew (We promised the world we'd tame it, what were we hoping for?) on Monday, 31-Oct-2005 9:29:38

Fireworks have been used to mark human celebrations for ages on end. I think it's one of those things that make us feel like we really have power, to light up the night, to drive away the shadows and, well, to just display the fact that we can make those awesome displays of lights in the sky. In Iceland this is the biggest celebration of the year (New Year's Eve is) and the average a family spends on fireworks runs between $250 and $400 us, the profits all go to local rescue squads that specialize in difficult mountain or sea resscue missions, often at great risks and the proceeds are used to by equipment, such as helecopters, snow mobiles etc. This is the most spectacular event of the year and the reason it is so spectacular is that you get to part take in it, not just be an idol audiance.
Of course this is dangerous stuff, it's not exactly like plastic explosives but of course it is somewhat powerful so where it poses a fire hazard of course it should be under tight controls or even banned, but I don't see why it should be banned completely since if handled correctly it can really be an awesome event. If some people use it as part of cruelty to animals that is horrible and those eople should be sentenced most severely but in the original example the 'men" could as easily have used gasoline for some sick effect and I don't think anyone suggests banning gasoline (or petrol of course, for you British folks out there &LT;grin>). I don't see why you should ban the means rather than punish the people who commit the acts and you'd need a much stronger justification than people's pets getting scared to convince me that this is something that should be taken away.
cheers
-B

## Post 6 by sugarbaby (The voice of reason) on Monday, 31-Oct-2005 10:05:06

it's one thing though to go to a display and watch the fireworks light up the night sky, on November the 5th, or whatever date is important in your country's calendar, but to have every household be able to buy and set off fireworks for 4 weeks before, and undoubtedly several weeks after the event is just unnecessary.
Every night we have to be subjected to people setting off fireworks which, in all honesty, are of industrial strength and should never be used in residential housing areas. My animals are terrified of them and spend every night cowering in the house. 4 years ago my cat was hit by a car because she was afraid of the fireworks. I have no objections to there being organized displays, in some public area, but i don't think that people should be allowed to buy them privately.

## Post 7 by wildebrew (We promised the world we'd tame it, what were we hoping for?) on Monday, 31-Oct-2005 10:10:45

&LT;grin> differences of opinion I'm afraid, I think people shoul be allowed to buy them privately. We only have a window of 3 days before when they're being sold and I think that's reasonable but if people choose to buy more than they shoot up on a particular day they obviously shoot up the rest at their own leasure, I believe it's banned by law to shoot up fireworks except on the specified occasions but it's hard to inforce. It's unfortunate though that this disrupt other people's lives so much and I guess, like everything, it's a matter of tradition, no need to start it up if it isn't already engraned in the national psychee, the particular thing I was illuding to is what makes my nation what it is almost it has such a strong culture and signiificance associated with it so I guess that's a bit different, also we have no trees to speak of so fire hazard is somewhat reduced.

## Post 8 by sugarbaby (The voice of reason) on Monday, 31-Oct-2005 10:21:59

yeh but three days before is quite different from 4 weeks before isn't it. And why should other people and animals be scared out of their wits purely because someone chooses to spend £500 on something that they'll burn. quite honestly, you might as well roll up £50 notes and set light to them.

## Post 9 by wildebrew (We promised the world we'd tame it, what were we hoping for?) on Monday, 31-Oct-2005 10:28:03

4 weeks is way too much and, well, at least fireworks don't make you addicted like betting nd slot machine games can do or make you sick like alcohol or make you and other people sick like smoking does. There's a lot of things that inconveniences other people pets e.g. are considered a major pest by some and they can argue that people having cats or dogs in the city, doing their business in the parks and not cleaning up should not be allowed.
And, yes, if the pets are taken care ofproperly that should never happen, but if fireworks are handled and used properly the inconvenience to other people and their pets is only restricted to one night per year.
So I do agree with you to a point the sales should be restriected to a much shorter time frame, the rules about who is allowed to handle the firewworks should probably be restricted and reinforced but I would be very frustrated if my country banned fireworks and I couldn't see that happen. Of course, mind you, I have a different perspective on it from people living in the UK since each nation is different and firework culture is probably more engraned into me than most other people on this site.
cheers
-B

## Post 10 by yankee g wolverine (Account disabled) on Monday, 31-Oct-2005 13:15:21

god bless ohio, you can buy fireworks everyday of the year, I think they're fun, and I admit, I illegally slip them in to michigan all the time, and I don't plan on stopping

## Post 11 by The Roman Battle Mask (Making great use of my Employer's time.) on Monday, 31-Oct-2005 14:09:54

Let everyone use fireworks, and let natural selection take it's course.

## Post 12 by Senior (I've now got the bronze prolific poster award! now going for the silver award!) on Tuesday, 01-Nov-2005 14:01:45

I think that the best thing to do is to have a licence to obtain fireworks and that licence should stipulate that they can't be used in any private setting. That is the best way to regulate them. I'm sure some totally blind people probably worry sometimes because when they hear them and they don't know how close they are, they can't tell if they're in danger or not and sometimes, because they can't see, they'll think they're closer than they actually are and that must be quite off-putting if you're walking somewhere.

## Post 13 by wildebrew (We promised the world we'd tame it, what were we hoping for?) on Tuesday, 01-Nov-2005 15:50:48

It's a contentious issue, like a lot of things. The question really is to what extent should we ban things that are fun and harmless or even useful if handled correctly but dangerous or at least cause disturbance and disconfort if mishandled. This goes for a lot of things, music equipment, cigarettes, guns, cars, pets, knives, fireworks, alcohol etc. If used as stipulated only one that one particular night of the year (or if usedmore often then only at those times) and if all safety regulations re followed then this should not be a big issue for anyone. However, like with everything else, people don't follow directions, they don't respect others and they may even end up putting those things to malicious use, ranging from simply playing music way too loud disturbing neighbours in the middle of the night to glueing together a lot of fireworks to create a mini bom that can set fire to a place or hurt someone, guns and knives obviously can be used for whatever purpose although I still fail to see the purposeof selling hand guns to the public, the argument goes that since the bad guys have a gun I need one too, if the bad guys couldn't obtain a gun in the first place you wouldn't need to be so worried, the gun manufacturers are, of course, very happy with this situation NRA (National Rifle Association) is one of the strongest interest groups in the U.S. with strong political and even presidential ties.
Over-all I must say this is all very open ended, what is a peron's freedom to enjoy things as opposed to the amount of "damage" emotional or otherwise that can cause to someone else. That is very much up to invididual view and I think only high profile dramtic events such as e.g. fireworks used to burn down a school house or get someone killed or common cold medicine used as main ingredient in Crystal Meth (it is one of the main ingredients and it is killing thousand of people if not tens of thousands every yar here). It's stupid because thest things, when used correctly are very valuable and helpful but now the misusse of one person restricts access for those who legitimately want to use those things.
Basically, this is a very complex issue. :) I'm not sure what my point is but I just find this theoretically interesting, sorry for my rant &LT;grin>
cheers
-B

## Post 14 by Twinklestar09 (I've now got the bronze prolific poster award! now going for the silver award!) on Tuesday, 01-Nov-2005 17:38:52

Yeah. In my area, they're supposed to be illegal to pop them, but people still do it anyway. And I'm a little nervous about being too near people who pop them or popping them myself because I sometimes worry something could happen and it'll hit me. That happened to one of my aunts, where someone threw one and it hit burned her. As for my view on it, I still think though that if the people chose to get fireworks and are using them properly, which I think most do, that it should be OK to have and use them. I know for sure that people in my neighborhood buy and use them, but they end up using them all up by a few days after the holidays being celebrated, so thankfully it doesn't go on for weeks or anything. (I think it's because if it does, people might feel weird about it and the persons using the fireworks could get in trouble for sure.) But yeah, I wouldn't think they should be banned completely, but just maybe a restriction being put on them, like a limmit on how many can be purchased personally, something more like that.

## Post 15 by rdfreak (THE ONE AND ONLY TRUE-BLUE KANGA-KICKIN AUSIE) on Tuesday, 01-Nov-2005 21:29:34

I do remember guyforks night when I was little and Nan would look after me and my sister while parents were out celebrating and Nan said I could go with them when I'm "grown up" but they banned them before that happened!

## Post 16 by Inesle1987 (Account disabled) on Wednesday, 02-Nov-2005 2:36:20

Personally I don't like fireworks. I like watching the mbut very far away - I don'T want to be near anything like that and I heard so many horrible things about that that I am really careful with it. Also people shouldk eep their animals away from them - how can people be so stupid and take animals with them?

## Post 17 by SingerOfSongs (Heresy and apostasy is how progress is made.) on Thursday, 03-Nov-2005 1:47:14

Bloody hell. Now you're talking about fireworks? What are people going to ask to ban next? Just because some idiots are out there? I'm sorry, but if there's one thing that gets me annoyed it's when people go after an object that, when used responsibly is a good deal of fun.

## Post 18 by wildebrew (We promised the world we'd tame it, what were we hoping for?) on Thursday, 03-Nov-2005 9:58:19

You shouldn't call them fireworks that is not politically correct, may be we can call them rapid oxydizing objects or roos.

## Post 19 by sugarbaby (The voice of reason) on Thursday, 03-Nov-2005 11:09:57

ines, people don't necessarily take their animals to where the fireworks are, the fireworks sometimes come to the animals. the dog in questio here had been removed from its own garden and had this done to it, regularly cats out in the night have fireworks tied to their tails .. you can imagine the result, I know of at least two people who have had fireworks thrown at them while out with guide dogs, and even if we forget about all the animals involved, every year casualty departments are full of people who are injured in some way by fireworks.

## Post 20 by Senior (I've now got the bronze prolific poster award! now going for the silver award!) on Friday, 04-Nov-2005 9:14:52

If people had to obtain permission to buy fireworks, and they had to take a slip into a shop which had a picture on them and the purpose for which they were buying fireworks, then they could be held accountable for anything they did if they misused the fireworks. The shops wouldn't be allowed to sell the fireworks if the picture on the slip didn't look like the person trying to purchase them, the regulators could make sure that people who didn't come across as been very responsible, for example, youths etc, didn't get the fireworks.

## Post 21 by wildebrew (We promised the world we'd tame it, what were we hoping for?) on Friday, 04-Nov-2005 9:22:32

They're just fireworks not plastic explosives, and such a system would be very expensive to implement and only worth while if firework shooting was a daily occurance. Some type of regulation is needed but I think this is going a bit overboard.

## Post 22 by sugarbaby (The voice of reason) on Friday, 04-Nov-2005 9:31:04

but b they are as good as plastic explosives. at the moment, although you have to be 18 to buy them, parents buy them and give them to their children, if only licenced, organized displays were allowed then we would get out of this culture. no one's saying that there should be no fireworks anywhere, but that they should be contained in controled environments.