Government to debate selling fireworks to the public.

[cheeseslovesme]

Just organised displays only. This will be debated on the 26th November. I for one will be glad if it is banned to sell to public. There's just too many mindless people setting them off late at night and all year round. I know of a few cases of using / throwing them on animals and killing or maiming them

Good.

For me they need to become draconian on this. Make it that organisers must arrange for a license (to include suitable certification) and that it requires permission from the neighbouring community. I would also add that no two displays may occur at the same time within say a half mile area, whereby it is then absolutely certain where any stray fireworks that have caused problems have come from. I would even like to see some sort of ID number on each firework so that in the event of fire scene investigation it can be tracked and traced back to a specific person/company.

Why do I feel this way? Well as a child I sat with at my grandmother's making out that we were down the shelter because her alzheimer's suffering neighbour genuinely believed she was back in WW2. Because even this year I've seen someone made homeless due to a stray firework catching their garden shed/garage alight which spread to the house. Because I've seen people I went to school with suffering PTSD and being affected by the bangs. Because I've seen various animals - farm and pets - suffering because of these stupid things.

It’s sad that the fun police have to resort to this.

Good! When I was 15 walking home minding my own business, some chavs fired one in my direction. Some people are sadly arseholes

I'm in favour of organised displays only. It would be easier for people to deal with their pets if they know when it will be happening

It’s sad that —the fun police— we have to resort to this because so many people are such antisocial arseholes and bring their children up the same way.

Fixed that for you.

I felt this year as if the intensity and duration of the firework season had increased.
For more than 10 days, the feckers started not too long after dary and chundered on till between 10 and 11. This was despite heavy rain and a really cold night. Come the weekend, that all ramped up till it felt like a solid wall of noise that was relentless.
If there were at least a bit of a breather between Halloween, Guy fawkes then Diwali, I doubt I would have been that narky about it. But it just went on and on.
Confine the fireworks to those dates and for those that insist on using fireworks outside those time, then there should be some kind of penalty notice for the noise nuisance.
If these laws already exist, then just enforce them.
Not fun police by any stretch.
There is just an imbalance these days between people who have a few fireworks once a year and others who seem to think its a fucking free for all from October onwards.

Thank you OP for telling us. I will contact my MP to seek their support.

Gosh, I don't know how I feel about this. I would have opposed it, but after firecrackers being thrown into my scout hut while the cubs were there, I feel a lot more concerned.

I think I'd like some sort of community permit which enables people to buy fireworks but doesn't require a licenced professional operator? I don't think you'd need a high bar to hugely reduce the number of problems as most people wouldn't go to the trouble of getting a permit.

I’m sorry for your gran’s trauma KatieMarie. Presumably therefore as a representative of “the local community” you would never give permission for any display, and many pet owners would also deny permission on every occasions, so your proposal is to make all fireworks displays illegal except on grouse moors or some Northumbrian beaches.

I do think you could usefully raise the age for purchase of fireworks to at least 21 though.

We used to have them put through our letterbox. I believe people buying them to abuse now outnumber people using them for private displays.

Ban sale to the public, have two levels of license (large and small) . And a required level of advertising about the display so people know in advance to keep pets in, drown out bangs etc.

I'm surprised Help for Heroes aren't campaigning for this actually: I've read quite a few stories of ex servicemen's PTSD being triggered by fireworks and their unpredictability.

Good. This is a long time coming, I signed the petition a while ago. And I'm sorry but the welfare of austistic people, the elderly, war veterans people with PTSD and yes, animals, is far more important than people's right to have 'fun'. Though if your idea of fun is a load of shit Shop bought fireworks then you need to get our more..

At last.

I wonder whats happened all of a sudden

No it will just make them more of a taboo causing the inappropriate twats to want them even more and buy from dodgy dealers where there is zero regulation at all
Nanny state at it again

@HelenaDove

It's not really "at last" as it was debated quite recently. Hopefully the fact it's come back is good news.

@RedneckStumpy

I don't know how long you've been out of the U.K. but it is really awful now. It's not fun police. In my local area, it's constant for two weeks because of Guy Fawkes and Diwali and the permitted noise and vibration is appalling. We had teens setting them off in the street at 3am last week. Some of my friends would have called it fun police a few years ago but it's got so bad now, even those people will support restrictions.

Fucking great rockets going off on my estate AGAIN a built up area of flats.

I feel for you Helena. We had a few last night, prob more tonight. I think people buy a load and just keep going till they run out. So annoying.

and yet...............and yet................ my HA was more concerned about mobility scooters and havent even mentioned or shown any concern about the way fireworks are being stored in flats.

The problem is the growing number of little shits who are using them as a weapon. I remember having little displays in my garden as a child and loving it. I have such fond memories but the abuse of fireworks seems to have got out of hand and unfortunately I think things do need to be tightened up a bit. The thing is I suspect in different areas the ‘problem’ purchasers are quite different. Where I am it is teenagers so raising the age limit to 21/25 would probably be enough to stop most of the trouble while allowing people to still have home displays. In other areas it would be adults so an age limit would make no difference.

I think regulation of fireworks is long overdue. The silver lining to the financial crisis was that people bought fewer fireworks in my area, which prior to 2008 sounded like the Battle of the Somme between late October and New Year. It was quieter for a few years, but is now ramping up again, as is the anti-social behaviour. I can hear fireworks exploding close by right now and earlier tonight saw a huge Catherine wheel spinning round in my neighbour's tiny back garden. Looked pretty but produced a surprisingly large cloud of thick smoke which then drifted down the road and could have caused an accident had anyone been driving through it.

Like PP I enjoyed back garden displays as a child (in a much bigger garden not near any roads) and would organise them with friends in my twenties. One year, despite following the instructions, having a bucket of water ready, etc., one of the bloody things shot straight at us instead of into the sky. We were just lucky that no-one was hurt.

There were more fireworks near me tonight. I just don't get why they are still going off

People will still get them though. It won't stop it completely

I signed the petition, just as I did last year, as I have a dog who is petrified of them and this year seems to have been worse than any others. Fireworks are getting louder and we have weeks of them being let off.

I know that a ban was debated in Parliament back in January though and achieved nothing. Hopefully, the fact that so many people have signed the petition and it's up for debate again, so soon after the previous one, might make a difference.