Would you be in favour of banning fireworks (other than scheduled displays?)

[FlippidyFlop]

YABU - people should be allowed to let them off any time of the year in their own gardens etc...

YANBU - there is no need to let fireworks off at random times of the year and they should be kept to scheduled displays so people know when to expect them.

We had a lady on our community Facebook page too saying she'd let them off for her son's birthday (not his 1st though so couldn't be the same as PP!) After people had complained about them being unplanned and unexpected and someone nearby had real trouble with her horses which she would have stabled if she'd known.

Surprisingly, I've managed to go quite some time celebrating children's birthdays now without letting explosives off.

YES!

Yes- Look at the number of injuries due to misuse quite apart from the noise

Other than a ban- @womaninatightspot has a good suggestion. A licence could come with a requirement to do some basic safety training.

Restrictions to one night a year a temporary license if you want to let them off at other times, and an actual response and concequences if that doesn't happen would be a fair compromise.
My dog never used to bother until two years ago when someone let a load off in the afternoon a week before bonfire night while we were out for a walk. I'm left with a nervous wreck who needs sedation every year now.

@amusedbush

Some twat has been setting them off every night for a week here and my poor dog's a wreck. Nobody needs fireworks in their back garden.

Same here. I hate loud unexpected noises it is horrible

Ive always thought they shouldn't be sold to the public

100% YANBU

There sale should be restricted to licenced individuals and their use should be restricted to scheduled licenced displays only.

If the government had any imagination they would see this could be great for the economy, and the NHS.

YANBU - I agree Op, they are awful things and they cause so much distress particularly to animals.
At least with scheduled displays they should be handled in as safe a way as possible and the local people have some warning when it will be happening.

I keep my opinion of this to myself as surrounded by dog lovers in my friend group. Said dog lovers want them banned citing safety and environmental concerns.

But dogs cause far more injuries than fireworks (2000 vs 250000 says google - first results that same up, so not my most rigorous research but still it’s a big gap in no’s even if out a bit)

And environmental concerns - erm dog poo hanging in trees in plastic baggies like grotesque xmas decs... also environmentally unsound.

Yet I’m not arguing to ban dogs! As that unfairly penalises responsible dog owners - much like banning fireworks penalises responsible fireworks users. I dislike the ‘I don’t like it so ban it’ stance.

I have no issue with restricting to certain dates though, but allowing public and private use. That wasn’t an option so not voted.

They should certainly be restricted (1) in urban areas, and (2) to smaller fireworks unless you have a license.

My neighbour buys industrial ones - the twat - and the whole road is a mess after, with burn marks and debris.

100%

Justasecondnow to be honest I don’t care about the pet argument but they do cause incidents to the general public, and are far too dangerous in the wrong hands.

I can't vote but I'd def be in favour of getting rid. Where I am in South Manchester we've had them every night for around 2-3 weeks already. Can't see any nice ones to 'ooh' at, just repetitive loud bangs that scare the kids and pets wtf is the point? It's just another drain on our NHS when people injure themselves with dodgy cheap ones at home and bloody annoying when Bonfire Night seems to last for a full month round here. I'm sure loads of people will be along to say 'oh misery guts, let people have fun, hard times, bit of joy' etc etc but why does someone else's bit of fun have to impact on countless neighbours and wildlife around them?

It’s not just dogs that suffer.

Wildlife, farm animals, service animals are all affected.

@Justasecondnow

I keep my opinion of this to myself as surrounded by dog lovers in my friend group. Said dog lovers want them banned citing safety and environmental concerns.

But dogs cause far more injuries than fireworks (2000 vs 250000 says google - first results that same up, so not my most rigorous research but still it’s a big gap in no’s even if out a bit)

And environmental concerns - erm dog poo hanging in trees in plastic baggies like grotesque xmas decs... also environmentally unsound.

Yet I’m not arguing to ban dogs! As that unfairly penalises responsible dog owners - much like banning fireworks penalises responsible fireworks users. I dislike the ‘I don’t like it so ban it’ stance.

I have no issue with restricting to certain dates though, but allowing public and private use. That wasn’t an option so not voted.

It's not just dogs though. It's a whole range of animals both domestic and wild.

Not knowing when to expect them means you can't prepare and arrange your pets (whatever pet) accordingly.

For example, the lady I mentioned who always stables her horses when she knows there's a display on but when someone sets them off randomly weeks before, they go crazy in the field and she really struggled to get them in and calm them down.

I just don’t think there’s necessarily any harm in people having a few small fireworks in their own gardens on the day when they would have been at a large firework display.

I would agree with limiting to specific days and festivals but I thought there were already similar laws?

I agree. There are too many idiots amongst the general public who cause mayhem with fireworks. They are best appreciated from a distance anyway, which isn't possible in the average suburban back garden.

YADNBU

Fireworks should definitely be limited to organised public displays only and only for limited dates. I’d support a licensing scheme with organisers required to have safety procedures in place

I'm not personally fussed about the noise or about it being kept to a couple of nights of the year, but I agree it should be kept to organised displays for safety reasons.

So if you’d ban fireworks would you ban dogs too? - dogs cause more injuries..

... but not as harmful to wildlife.. Maybe - or maybe they are, I don’t know. Cats on the other hand definitely are... shall we ban them?

The reality is we all have our pets/activities/love of multiple holidays abroad/I phones/love of meat or whatever that can be argued to be harmful.

Picking someone else’s activity that sometimes is inconvenient to you to ban is hypocritical if you won’t ban stuff equally as harmful as that doesn’t bother you.

It's obviously very location specific as where I am you just don't hear fireworks except around key dates & even then they are of the more friendly pretty colour, less noise variety.

I think loud ones should be public displays only and quiet ones only for the back garden

@Justasecondnow has a good point.

I live near industrial estates where some people like to set off big fireworks randomly throughout the year. It's a hazard and there are some terrible stories of accidents involving them.

Personally, I don't have an issue with sparklers, but I like the idea of a license for anything bigger than that and more restrictions (and more enforcement of the ones that already exist) on where they can be set off & how many at a time by members of the public.

I always think these should be in the hands of professionals only.
One for safety of anyone in the near vicinity of them and two because anyone with animals has time to prepare if fireworks are only being set off on a set night at set time spans.

In my old area fireworks were set off to alert drug users where to get their drugs. Naiceeee