To think fireworks should not be for sale to the general public

[lastqueenofscotland]

Maybe I just live in a crap area where kids let them off in the street and throw them at people. But people buying them and using them like utter cretins seems to be on the rise.
Aibu to think they should be for organised displays only?

Im not sure it does add much more to the debate except to say it's not as easy as declaring that banning [insert any thing] is to be tolerated because it doesn't meet a worthiness threshold set against the fallout of the behaviour.

And most people here are not saying that they'd tolerate fireworks for private use with better regulation. Most are saying that fireworks for private use should be made illegal based on their own assessment of the joy: fallout ratio.

Because, ultimately, I think you need to be careful about making intrusive legislation that encroaches on current freedoms.

OK but some types of organic weedkiller have been banned because terrorism but I can still buy fireworks and let them off on the street.

I am concerned of the strain the NHS is under, not least because I have a chronic illness. But I don't think anyone on this thread mentioned the elderly or the obese, did they?

I think if communities came together in their homes to celebrate killing their weeds then it would be unfair to ban all weedkillers rather than just those which are a terrorist staple. Meanwhile, I'm not aware of any terrorist events with Tesco fireworks. I'm happy to be told otherwise.

What's the elderly or the obese have to do with the banning of fireworks?

Just what?

I see what you’re saying baguetteaboutit, but the crux for me is that people often don’t have any option to remove themselves from a situation they find intolerable for whatever reason. The noise from fireworks is intrusive and when a neighbour is setting off unexpected bangs people will have little choice but to wait it out with no option to not partake.

I would prefer a compromise with lower powered fireworks on sale only but if banning is on the table then the fact that at the moment we’re saying to people they have to tolerate a non-essential disturbance in their own homes means I would support a total ban if pushed.

When an individuals right to fun overrides someone else’s to not partake then the fun thing is the one that has to be controlled.

I don't care if its 'tradition' to let off fireworks, fox hunting used to be 'traditional' in this country. Just because something has been done for a long time doesn't make it acceptable. Furthermore Bonfire Night has its roots in secterianism. Burning efergies of catholics on bonfires. How is that still acceptable?!

OK but some types of organic weedkiller have been banned because terrorism but I can still buy fireworks and let them off on the street.

Because weed killer petrol and sugar makes a powerful explosive. Fireworks are not powerful enough to so serious damage.

I don't know. I give in. I Helena is suggesting that those people who want to keep fireworks pretend that fireworks are not a burden on the NHS and that they are the exact same people who think that the elderly and the obese are a burden on the NHS. But there are a lot of assumptions about who is thinking what to make that point.

When I first came to the UK, I could not believe that fireworks aka explosives were available for sale to the general public. They are banned in my country for safety reasons.

I don't live in a neighbourhood that has very few home fireworks displays. It seems like the people who do so tend to be less hmmm sensible and therefore are the ones more likely to be lax about security. Why should this be allowed particularly particularly when the displays can take place at home with young children, pets and accidents waiting to happen.

When an individuals right to fun overrides someone else’s to not partake then the fun thing is the one that has to be controlled

Yeah, I know what you are saying but I don't think this is a conundrum that should be fixed by criminalising up until now, lawful behaviour.

Honestly, I should be on the other side of this argument. The residual smoke from bonfire night fucks my lungs even the next day, more if there's fog.

I honestly think that society works better when people have as much freedom as can be afforded and avoid the temptation to ban all those thing which are inconvenient.

An MNer had one come into her living room last year or the year before.

I honestly think that society works better when people have as much freedom as can be afforded and avoid the temptation to ban all those thing which are inconvenient

I like the philosophy but I don’t believe it’s workable, precisely because we live a society with the freedom to allow a diverse range of morals, ethics and beliefs.

Particularly in the last few decades legislation has sought to primarily advantage the groups with little resource to protect themselves and I’m thankful to be part of a society that up to this point has sought to achieve some rebalancing of power. Bit heavy for a conversation just about fireworks () but the core is the same; people who are genuinely distressed or disturbed by fireworks generally have no recourse or opportunity to avoid them primarily because they’re available to the general public and people use them inconsiderately. In this case I think that people’s right to not be disturbed them should be protected and if that is only enforceable through removing them from general sale then I support that. I genuinely can’t see another workable solution.

YANBU. Even the Fire Service say please only attend organised displays .
Also, people who say they have money but blow up ££££

legislation has sought to primarily advantage the groups with little resource to protect themselves

Which legislation do you mean. Obviously there have been legislation that means that there is better access for those with disabilities so that there are fewer barriers for people to engage in society fully but obviously this is very different to restricting the freedom of others to create equivalence.

YANBU

Time to license sales

We had loads going off here last night - and I’m listening to more now. Then there will be bondfire night then next weekend bondfire nights... it’s been going on for weeks!

YANBU for all the reasons already given. There also seems to be debris lying around the streets from the fireworks for ages afterwards. I can only hope public sale will be banned in the near future - you can see the change is coming with the likes of Sainsburys stopping sales.

Well I suppose it was generally disability/race/sex legislation that I was thinking of initially but on consideration I suppose the smoking ban is a fair example, drink driving laws, seat belts, food labelling. I’m sure there are better examples than I can think of right now of that type of legislation. All those foaming at the mouth DM commentators didn’t coin ‘nanny state’ for nothing .

The smoking ban isn't really a ban though, you can smoke till your hearts content at home. People can still pump the air full of white with their awful log burning stoves (which will be my first target if I get an itch to write to my mp about banning things).

Seat belts and drink driving laws are more of an adjustment than outright banning. They're not really a barrier to driving unless you're a dick. If we legislated against people driving their own private cars because they couldn't be trusted not to get bladdered and drive them that would be equivalent but clearly that's never going to happen.

Food labelling isn't an impingement on the individual just a barrier to trade.

I just don't think we have many equivalent examples.

I'm sticking with my slippery slope concerns Cornetto. I've become rather cynical in my old age.

Full of white = full of smoke, it's an odd autocorrect but not entirely inaccurate.

A lot of people just focus on the noise aspect, but it's not just the noise.

A small number of people deliberately cause horrific injuries to animals using fireworks.

A small number of people deliberately cause harm and sometimes injury to other people using fireworks. Sometimes injury is intentional, sometimes not.

And then of course there's accidental injuries caused by things simply going wrong.

All because people want pretty coloured lights in the sky from the comfort of their own home. Don't blame the people that want them banned, blame fuckwits that misuse them and the sale of cheap fireworks that are dangerous

There is also this.

Fireworks cause extensive air pollution in a short amount of time, leaving metal particles, dangerous toxins, harmful chemicals and smoke in the air for hours and days. Some of the toxins never fully decompose or disintegrate, but rather hang around in the environment, poisoning all they come into contact with. Exposure to fine particles, like those found in smoke and haze, is linked to negative health implications, such as coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, asthma attacks and even heart attacks, according to the EPA. People at greatest risk for problems are those with heart or lung disease, older adults and children.

In a fireworks display, those particles that fall to the ground (chemicals and actual physical pieces of waste) often contain propellant chemicals and colorants, which find their way into the soil and our water systems. Many of the raw materials used to create fireworks are mined from mountains, a destructive process that cuts down forests and destroys wildlife habitats. Leftover rock is discarded into valleys, blocking and polluting flowing streams.

www.terrapass.com/fireworks-impact-environment

Ever since I saw a small child - couldn't have been more than 5 - narrowly miss getting hit with a stray rocket whilst walking with his mum in a local park....abso-fucking-lutely should they be banned.

The group setting off the fireworks couldn't have been out their teens. They ran off soon as they saw this kid screaming and crying....lucky a couple guys saw it all happen and genuinely ran after one of them. Dragged him back to check the kid was okay and apologise.

I genuinely shit myself thinking I'd just seen a kid get wiped out by a firework....lucky he was okay but I'm sure there are others who aren't as fortunate.

Someone hurt ,(killed we assume) a hamster in my area cats have been injured and killed its unpleasant to say the least they are just too proud for my son even with his ear defenders tonight he ran away we were at a display and he freaked and bolted they are just too loud sold to the wrong people