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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wish fireworks for home use were banned?

246 replies

ValiantMouse · 06/11/2015 19:57

People have been letting them off for over a week now. I'm sitting in my house and it sounds like the Battle of Britain is going on outside, mainly thanks to one neighbour who thinks it's ace to let off very powerful fireworks. I really hate it, my nerves are shot and if it's anything like last night, it'll be midnight before they stop.

AIBU?

OP posts:
rumbleinthrjungle · 08/11/2015 09:07

*DCs so disappointed me too

I will now be buying a box of fireworks so they can have their firework night next week.*

Which kind of sums it up, doesn't it?

Sod the wildlife, terrified horses and stock in fields who have had days of this, terrified pets, startled and upset young children, the elderly and anyone with PTSD, autism and sensitive hearing..... Make sure you and your CDs get your bangs and oohs in so youre not disappointed.

This is the attitude that means fireworks need to be available to controlled displays only on limited nights.

wasonthelist · 08/11/2015 10:16

I am shocked so few people seem to be interested in going after the miscreants and just want to ban. Imagine if we banned air travel because of the people who misbehaved on flights, or driving because people can't be trusted not to speed or crash? I am glad we don' t (yet) live in such a regimented clamp-down where what you can do is always determined by the people who behave the worst.

PrettyBrightFireflies · 08/11/2015 10:55

I am shocked so few people seem to be interested in going after the miscreants and just want to ban

And how can we do that?

It's all very well arresting and charging someone after the event - but the damage is done. A child is maimed, or a business destroyed.
In any event, there aren't the enforcement resources to pursue every group of teens who fire rockets along their street, or arrest the fathers who host fireworks parties while half cut in back gardens the size of pocket handkerchiefs.

newname12 · 08/11/2015 15:30

I am shocked so few people seem to be interested in going after the miscreants and just want to ban. Imagine if we banned air travel because of the people who misbehaved on flights, or driving because people can't be trusted not to speed or crash? I am glad we don' t (yet) live in such a regimented clamp-down where what you can do is always determined by the people who behave the worst

The difference being it's the fireworks themselves that are inherently dangerous, not the user. Sparklers burn many, many small children.

A firework warehouse is extremely dangerous. Even if there are no people within 100 miles.

Blooming- they are right to cancel if its windy. It's much windier higher up at the level of the fireworks than it is on the ground. Not a great idea to have burning explosives blown into urban areas is it? You at home with your box of fireworks obviously know way, way more about the behaviour of fireworks than the experts who run the displays. A little wind? Pah. Not like it can blow right into your sons face if theres a sudden gust....

This is why they should be banned..

Bunbaker · 08/11/2015 15:35

"I am shocked so few people seem to be interested in going after the miscreants and just want to ban"

The police went after the miscreants in Sheffield on Thursday. One ended up in hospital with a head injury, and a police car was set on fire.

BobandKate0 · 08/11/2015 16:27

After trying to comfort my dog all night,who was trembling with fear - i would also like to ban them,including displays - it can't be good for wildlife and is a waste of chemicals.
Could not people go sit in a Orbitarium with sound effects nowadays,we don't have public hangings any more ,so why must this tradition continue.

Andrewofgg · 08/11/2015 17:56

Nothing wrong with public displays: safe, licenced, supervised and insured.

Everything is a waste of something if you are miserable enough.

Topseyt · 08/11/2015 17:56

I thought it might be over after last night. Silly me. Of course not. Just heard more a few minutes ago, meaning a quivering Labrador who will refuse to go out and toilet until very late for yet another night running.

wasonthelist · 08/11/2015 21:17

The police went after the miscreants in Sheffield on Thursday. One ended up in hospital with a head injury, and a police car was set on fire.

So, as I said, because some people behave badly, everyone has their fun stopped? and before anyone starts I am not advocating or excusing attacks on the Police, either.

It's all very well arresting and charging someone after the event - but the damage is done. A child is maimed, or a business destroyed.

This is just as true of arson - are you planning on banning matches and lighters?

Banning home fireworks is a total over-reaction and it comes from a mindset that punishes the innocent for the actions of the guilty.

Littleonesaid · 08/11/2015 21:22

YABU. I love having fireworks in the garden.

But agree they should be used with consideration for neighbours and there should be a curfew.

PrettyBrightFireflies · 08/11/2015 22:33

Other than enjoyment, what practical purpose do fireworks serve in modern society?

Motor vehicles are a key part of our transport network. They are regulated in order to mitigate the risk they pose.
Knives are a key tool in everyday life. Sale and possession are regulated to mitigate risk.

Fireworks serve no useful purpose and are for recreation only, and yet the regulation is significantly less than that of other, equally lethal, weapons.

Micah · 08/11/2015 22:50

Did you see the link I posted up thread?

990 accidents (that were reported) in four weeks due to fireworks. Many of them children.

That's nearly 250 a week. 35 people every day.

Anything else that hurt that many people would be instantly banned.

wasonthelist · 08/11/2015 23:21

Anything else that hurt that many people would be instantly banned.
Since I don't have the stats for oher hurty things, I can't be certain, but I wouldn't mind betting there are other things that hurt people as much and are not banned.

PigletJohn · 08/11/2015 23:33

cigarettes, cars, horses.

wasonthelist · 09/11/2015 07:31

People seem to be arguing that a lack of enforcement is a good reason to introduce a ban. I can't imagine why they think that would be magically enforced.

ZanyMobster · 09/11/2015 07:50

We bought fireworks for the garden one NYE, our garden is smallish and we didn't put one of them in the ground properly. It basically fell over and aimed at us, we legged it indoors and shut the patio doors, it actually damaged the glass, never again, that could have been one of us.

I don't mind the fireworks going off but it has been almost every day for the last 2 weeks and the kids can't sleep.

We went to an organised display for kids on Saturday, the fireworks were on from 730-745, the whole event was 630-8 and the residents actually complained to the HT, they screamed at her about the noise and called the police. That is OTT IMO, I could understand if it was noisy for hours or late. There were no cars in the residential area either, not a huge number of people and the kids were all well behaved.

PrettyBrightFireflies · 09/11/2015 07:58

It's would be a lot easier to regulate fireworks at point of sale (either not being sold at all if completely banned, or sales limited to licence holders only) than it is to regulate their use once they have been sold.

LumelaMme · 09/11/2015 08:15

Other than enjoyment, what practical purpose do fireworks serve in modern society?
In our case, they bring the neighbours and local friends together for a bit of a party. Aged 2 (baby!) to 78 (elderly!), this time around. Admittedly we manage the same at other times of year without fireworks, but the fireworks party has a different feel and is much more focused on the children.

Enjoyment and neighbourliness are not things to be easily dismissed.

cigarettes, cars, horses.
Indeed. And alcohol. I mean, we don't need to drink alcohol, do we? It causes way more deaths each year than fireworks do (cars, motorbikes, pub fights, liver disease...)

babybythesea · 09/11/2015 19:53

Just to add to this, I used to work in a zoo and many of the animals were beside themselves after fireworks. Gorillas with horrendous runs, and vomiting with fear, for example. DH works in a zoo still, and he went in to work on 6th November to find one of his animals had killed its baby, probably through fear although we'll never know for sure. An organised display can have proximity to places like zoos taken into consideration. A back garden display doesn't.

HelenaDove · 09/11/2015 20:00

baby Sad

PunkrockerGirl · 09/11/2015 20:09

They're still going off here tonight. I mean just why, ffs. Probably the first night since the 5th when people thought it would be ok to not keep their pets indoors Confused
baby that's just awful.

fastdaytears · 09/11/2015 20:15

Yep it's a rainy Monday night so let's get the fireworks out!

PrettyBrightFireflies · 10/11/2015 08:16

I saw a FB post yesterday from a farmer who called the fire brigade when a household nearby lit a bonfire in their garden and started letting off fireworks which - due to the high winds - were landing in his barn of stored winter hay!

The FB traced the household and put out their bonfire!

rumbleinthrjungle · 10/11/2015 20:57

Oh God they're STILL AT IT.

If I have to take another night of trying to manage the dog through panicked barking and barking and barking despite every damn thing I can do to help I'm going to go insane. Pass the gin.

I'm fine with doing this a few nights a year, that's no problem. But every fricking bloody night...

wasonthelist · 10/11/2015 21:01

I used to work in a zoo and many of the animals were beside themselves after fireworks

I wouldn't worry too much about that, Zoos are no doubt fairly close on the "let's ban things" contingent's list.