Apparently, the fireworks ban is appropriate, necessary, legal, and enforceable in Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma, and Bellevue. These cities would seem to have city/county, incorporated/non-incorporated governmental issues and characteristics similar to ours in Vancouver.
Each Fourth of July evening, a major fireworks display attended by about 100 people goes on in front of my house. Rockets, mortars, etc., are fired from the street about 50 feet from my front door. We shudder inside our home from the explosions, which are directly over the house and occur every minute or two. We hear the debris pelting our roof. We even see pieces still burning in our trees. We can’t hear our television. The cat cowers under the bed. In the morning, we have a debris-covered yard and roof.
The current statutes of the city allow these things to happen to me and many other Vancouver citizens. This is not a matter of a few people breaking the rules.
Historically, the modern city has evolved in large measure to promote the health and welfare of its populace. At some point, for example, back in the old wild west, responsible officials had to make laws to prevent the cowboys and gunslingers from carrying and shooting guns in town.
