Jul 2, 2015 3 min read

Pennsylvania’s fireworks laws are enough to make your head explode.

Residents within the commonwealth can only purchase novelty fireworks like sparklers, while nonresidents can visit Pennsylvania, purchase consumer fireworks like bottle rockets and Roman candles, and take them back to New York, Maryland, Ohio or anywhere else.

That makes about as much sense as allowing nonresidents to buy hard liquor from our stores, while restricting Pennsylvanians to beer and champagne.

However, three Republican lawmakers, including state Sen. Elder Vogel of Beaver County, said they will be introducing legislation that would lift restrictions on the sale of “Class C” consumer fireworks, which includes mortars along with bottle rockets and Roman candles, and do away with the need for a permit to use them. The bill’s sponsors said it would set parameters on when the fireworks can be used and, perhaps more importantly, they argue selling those fireworks to state residents would bring more money into the commonwealth’s coffers. An additional excise tax, they point out, would benefit fire and EMS personnel.

If the measure becomes law, Pennsylvania would be the latest in a string of states loosening restrictions on the sale of consumer fireworks. Only three states – Delaware, New Jersey and Massachusetts – maintain a total ban, while New York recently relaxed its rules, allowing counties to decide whether to permit them. Like casino gambling, states apparently decided when it comes to consumer fireworks, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, and rake in the revenue.

We, however, approach this proposed change in the state’s regulations with great trepidation.

Rather than maintaining the baffling status quo and limiting their sale solely to out-of-state residents, or throwing off the shackles entirely and letting everyone get their hands on them, Pennsylvania should consider tightening the restrictions on the sale of consumer fireworks.

The simple fact is consumer fireworks can be dangerous, both to property and the physical well-being of those who use them. What day of the year has the most reported fires? The Fourth of July, according to the National Fire Protection Association, with many of those fires the result of people firing off rockets in their backyards. The associaton also reports, in 2011, fireworks caused more than 17,000 fires, including 16,300 outdoor conflagrations, 1,200 structure fires and 400 vehicle fires. All this resulted in 40 people being injured and $32 million in property damage. Two years later, in 2013, more than 11,000 people were treated in U.S. emergency rooms for fireworks-related injuries.

An organization, the Alliance to Stop Consumer Fireworks, has some heavy hitters in its ranks who understand the danger fireworks can pose, such as the American Academy of Family Physicians, the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners and the International Association of Fire Chiefs. Their concerns should not be taken lightly.

There’s no question fireworks are great on the Fourth of July. But they are best enjoyed when handled by professionals, rather than amateurs. There’s nothing that can put a damper on an Independence Day celebration more quickly than a hot bottle rocket landing on a neighbor’s roof, a mortar searing someone’s hand or a Roman candle setting a nearby field on fire.