When a TV reporter asked some city dwellers why they fired guns into the air on New Year’s Eve, they said “You can’t get firecrackers. But everybody has a gun.” I remember that from years ago when I lived in a state that only allowed “safe and sane” fireworks. On New Year’s Eve, Vancouver mostly had the booms of consumer fireworks but interspersed was the rhythmic sound of gunfire.
Well-meaning people try to ban fireworks because of safety issues and the trauma that loud noises inflict on people and pets. Yet the unintended consequence will be that the fireworks ban will make the problem worse. The bullets that get fired into the air come down at nearly the same velocity at which they left the gun and they can travel three miles. It becomes Russian roulette for the city. Fireworks are loud but the fallout is trivial by comparison.
And the fireworks ban, like many other prohibitions, will produce a black market because they can so easily be transported from nearby counties or states.
Holidays that are celebrated with gluttony, inebriation and explosives will always be a problem but we can lessen the trauma and destruction by having robust fireworks that make going over to the dark side less appealing.
