To want fireworks banned from public sale?

[JellyDiamonds]

I'm not a killjoy, but I'm sitting here with a fucking terrified dog. He is not a dog who scares easily, but it sounds like the Blitz out there tonight I've got the TV turned up loud to drown out the sound, I've shut the curtains and he is still cowering in the corner. Not even the lure of a treat is bringing him out.

It's the same every year, selfish fuckers buying bombs to set off in their gardens with little consideration for neighbours with pets and young children. At least pets have shelter from it though, farm animals and wildlife don't.

In fact I hate the entire concept of bonfire night really. Burning a catholic on a bonfire. How is that still acceptable in 2014.

Just go to a public display and stop inflicting this noise on your neighbours please!

Yes, it would be dull to only have what is necessary, but we aren't proposing to outlaw anything else other than fireworks!

It's fine not to like them but telling other folk what to do with their time and money is not on.

Nor is outlawing something that only causes minimal harm in comparison to other things done solely for fun like alcohol or parties.

There are loads of legal activities I'm not keen on but outlawing them would make no sense to me, a liberal.

My friend's face is permanently scarred from someone firing one in his direction so yes, I think they should be banned from sale to the public and only available to private displays.

I'm also biased, I guess, as a fellow animal lover, but I wish they were banned here (US; illegal in some states but not others). Wyrd I genuinely appreciate that your family is careful with them and doesn't set them off late at night, but there's really no time of day when animals won't be terrified and possibly at risk of injury, and no time of day when some adults and children won't be terrified as well.

And I love fireworks. So I go to the public displays on the 4th of July and New Year's. I don't really see why that's not enough. That is the appropriate place for it.

You could think of it like shooting guns for target practice, maybe (US perspective, obviously): for some people it is really enjoyable. However, it is noisy and inconsiderate and potentially dangerous. So you go and do it at the shooting range, which is the appropriate place, not in your backyard.

There are good arguments for banning fireworks or keeping them under the supervision of someone with a licence, but 'my dog doesn't like them' isn't high up the list.

I've known dogs that got hysterical every time the postman came to the door, but no one suggested banning postman. The solution is not to own a pet that disturbs you by getting overexcited.

But mailmen are necessary. Fireworks are not.

You really cannot tell whether a dog will be afraid of fireworks when you adopt it. Would you really suggest that people go and have their dogs put down upon making that discovery?

What about working animals?

And, ahh, what about children? You can't tell ahead of time whether they will be particularly sensitive to fireworks. Adults with dementia or other conditions that make them emotionally vulnerable? Shall we have all of them put down too, if they turn out to "get overexcited"?

The solution is not to own a pet that disturbs you by getting overexcited.

Is that really a solution? Besides, terror and excitement are VASTLY different. My dogs don't disturb me, I love them, so I worry about them- especially the one with a heart condition.

I agree, upset dogs is not high up on the list of arguments- but that doesn't mean it's not a valid argument. It is still worth mentioning!

I fully agree with the OP. I too love a good fireworks display, but I too have a terrified dog and the fireworks these days sound more like huge mortar bombs that the "whizz pop" I recall from my childhood.

I would like to see them banned from public sale and available to organised and licensed displays only. That is not because I want to tar everyone who likes to have home fireworks in their garden with the same brush and say that they are all irresponsible and inconsiderate. In most cases that is not true at all. Sadly though, there are some antisocial twats around who spoil it for everyone. I remember driving past a row of houses a few years ago and some arseholes were launching rockets at passing cars. If they were banned from public sale then that sort of incident would virtually stop.

I know this would mean that the minority may have spoiled things for the majority. That isn't the way it should be, but fireworks are just so dangerous and can cause so much distress if handled irresponsibly that I can't see any alternative to banning them from public sale.

upset dogs not high up on the list of arguments? Really??? Don't you care about animal welfare then?

What about wildlife?

And to be perfectly frank, i would happily ban post-men, they only ever bring fucking bills anyway

Both my DCs have been terrified by older kids throwing fireworks in the street.

The solution is not to own a pet that disturbs you by getting overexcited.

What a totally ridiculous comment. Terror is totally different from over-excitement, and my dog is terrified.

As others have pointed out, dogs are not the only creatures often scared by fireworks. Horses and farm animals can be too.

Not all young children like them either. My 15 year old daughter used to be terrified of them too when she was younger (though she isn't now). Perhaps I should have had her put down then!!

Public safety and the welfare of animals are part and parcel of the same argument for banning fireworks from public sale in my book.

As an aside though, there was an incident in our town a few years ago where some of the local yobs put a lit mortar bomb rocket into one of the dog poo bins. Fortunately when it went off no-one was injured, but the yobs were completely showered in dog shit. All over their designer trainers and jeans. Suddenly they were no longer laughing like hyenas, and mysteriously disappeared!! Summary justice, methinks. It does also illustrate the point of why they should be banned too.

I've told this story on here before; when I was about 17 (so 15 years ago) I was in A&E on a weekend evening with a badly sprained ankle (thought it was broken - hence A&E). It was around Bonfire week.

Was a long wait so it became pub/club time.

A woman came in with her hand in pieces. Someone had poured gunpowder/explosives from a firework into an ashtray in a pub. When she put her cigarette out it exploded and took her hand with it.

It was awful. I can only imagine what the scars must look like.

:(

yaNOTbu, the fucking things should be illegal for the general public to buy, organisers of events who feel the need to fuck around with explosives can apply for a licence. Still doesn't help the matter of wildlife or noise pollution but oh well as long as people get to say 'ooh look at the pretty sparkles darling' to their children that's all that matters. (Not.)

(Somewhat more sweary than intended there. I'm not as angry as I sounded, but still pretty irritating having that noise inflicted on me and my dog day and night for weeks. I'm in NI, too, where people already are too fond of setting stuff on fire.)

The horse in the picture over the page was burned when it's rug was caught alight by a chinese lantern. They are the work of the devil stupid. But, when you go into your horses' field one morning picking up all the burned out rockets it doesn't take much imagination to think about how awful fireworks around animals can turn out.
Brands Hatch had a display tonight. Horrendous noise levels. Lots of horses in this area, I'll be amazed if there haven't been any injuries tonight.

Yadnbu at all I wish they weren't sold to the public either. I love fireworks when it's an organised display but I think their should be tighter regulations.

Well said WyrdByrd

I'm really torn on this one.

I get what people are saying and part of me agrees. Now I'm old and jaded it's the blowing up of money argument which is most persuasive to me.

But, at the same time, fireworks are part of childhood magic to me and I never went to an organised display. As a young child I remember going to big parties in the garden of a man from our church. Walking through town in hats, gloves and scarves all excited, sparklers, toffee apples, Catherine wheels, rockets, loads of friends, party games ... seriously some of my favourite memories. When I was a bit older and lived elsewhere my Dad used to set off a box in the back garden while we watched from the conservatory. Never cost more than £20 and it never felt dangerous. I think they were small fireworks and, again, we loved the atmosphere.

I think it would be very sad if those experiences weren't available to children just because some people can't be responsible with them. Organised displays are far louder and more intrusive than sensibly done private ones anyway!

Sorry that is now pages ago and no one knows what Im on about!

I'm trained in stage pyrotechnics and have been involved in public firework displays (though not doing the actual firing) and the biggest annoyance I have is going out the next day after the locals have been setting off rockets and having to wrestle deads and fallout off my dogs.

Where the fallout ends up and wind direction etc. are all considerations when firing big displays. I've known them be moved back and forwards a good 30 minutes to get the wind right. Unless my neighbours can work out where if will all land, and go around at the end picking up their litter then they shouldn't gecallowed them.

Could you imagine people having to turn up in tescos with a risk assessment, method statement, a licence and weather info from the local airport.

YANBU
We walked through the park on Friday night. There was a gang of 15 or so teen boys, throwing and kicking rockets around. DD (3.8) was terrified - I'd said I'd take her out for a walk to see/hear bats and owls. Instead I had to carry a sobbing child at speed past these idiots.