Letter: It’s time for fireworks regulation reform, he says

TO THE EDITOR: Some of my fondest 4th of July memories as a child were watching in awe at the brilliant fireworks displays.

Today, however, with our current economy, fewer and fewer communities are able to afford a display or have seriously curtailed their shows.

Maiden Rock has had a display for as long as I have lived in this area (about 30 years); however, when the village could no longer support the fire department and disbanded it, that ended a long-standing tradition of our celebrations.

Under current Wisconsin laws, sales and displays of class “C” fireworks, which is basically anything going “bang,” are prohibited to private citizens without a permit. For some reason, we can sell them to people from out-of-state. You see fireworks business in almost every border town, but don’t try to buy there unless you have a permit.

We could do what a lot of Wisconsinites do and go around the law by having someone from out-of-state buy them for us, but I like to live by the rule of the law. These laws make no sense and are hypocritical. Why can we sell them in Wisconsin, but not buy them?

I know some people will argue they are too dangerous, but I would rather have a bottle rocket in the hands of a responsible adult than a 400-degree sparkler in the hand of a three-year-old.

I have lived in eight different states and class “C” fireworks were only illegal in two, Minnesota and Wisconsin. I was a volunteer firefighter and have set off class “B” fireworks.

I was a firearms dealer and sold hundreds of guns and cases of high-powered ammunition, but couldn’t buy a firecracker in Wisconsin.

What’s wrong with this picture? (By the way, I went to the trouble to obtain a permit.)

Tags: opinion, letters, government