Should fireworks be banned from public sale?

[Toffeeappletoty]

Last night a group of teens/young men were setting of fireworks on the central reservation of a dual carriageway they were running across the road, it was shocking to witness.

There was also an incident in the city centre with people throwing fireworks at members of the public.

Is it time to ban them altogether from public sale? I’ve long though that they should only be permitted for licensed organised displays.

But having said that I was talking to dh and I have many happy childhood memories of bonfire night with a few fireworks in the back garden, all done safely and finished by 8pm.

We were saying that lots of things are dangerous in the wrong hands, knives, alcohol, and there are laws around fireworks already. But some don’t follow the law, but that’s the same for lots of things.

I always find mumsnet is very anti fireworks anyway, and they are terrible for animals and wildlife.

Yanbu - ban them for public sale
Yabu - don’t ruin it for everyone just because a few can’t be responsible

Absolutely yes. The general public absolutely cannot be trusted with fucking explosives.

Plus environmentally they are fucking horrible, so I would ban them purely for that reason.

Considering we are supposedly in a crisis of living, why oh why do people spend much money on such a pointless activity that scares pets and wildlife and some use in a dangerous fashion

Yes, definitely should be banned.

Yes.

Definitely, yes

I think that's fine but all our public displays have been cancelled for the last two years so if you want to celebrate it then it's your only option. And as one of the only events that is unique to the UK I do think we should celebrate it.

Absolutely yes, my ddog would definitely agree, she threw up twice last night and iys not even bonfire night

What you are describing is antisocial behavior and possibly assault among other things. And luckily those are already covered by existing legislation.
People who want to be arseholes will be arseholes. Laws need to be enforced and punishments need to be deterrents.
If someone throws a fire work at another person, an action that is likely to cause serious injury, or conceivably death then that action needs to be taken seriously. Not by banning fireworks but by holding the person responsible actually responsible.

Absolutely agree. Some prats were setting them off last night around 11.30. My child had an absolute meltdown and it took me hours to get her back to bed. I can ger to sleep with earplugs if I know there will be fireworks but she cant do that from Nov to Jan. The lod noises scar her.

I voted YANBU, but I would prefer a compromise: rockets and large fireworks for public displays only, but the little fountains that stay on the ground are fine for garden displays.

All fireworks should be silent.

It always baffles me that the general public, who, in all their wisdom, voted for Brexit, are trusted with actual explosives every year.

I fully support the idea of licensed displays only.

as a very minimum there needs to be restrictions on the size of fireworks that can be sold to the public. Many of the once available now are much much bigger than the ones from my childhood.

People buy these boxes and set them off in spaces nowhere near big enough for them. Often under the influence of alcohol.

Yep.

Had to partly leave London because the local youths used to throw them at my front door for fun.

Up here (North East) you get the usual idiots letting them off from the days leading up to Halloween to new year. I hate it. Had loads land in our garden, and the poor country park with horses, deer, and Lord knows what other beauties, gets peppered every year.

Shouldn't be sold to the public.
Should be silent.

The fireworks are ultimately not the problem it’s twats buying them.

If you think making them illegal will actually stop the twats you’re not very bright. It’s not hard ultimately to make fireworks and much like other things they would be sold under counter back ally.

What you need is faster police response and harsher punishments for twats setting them off in dangerous ways.

@Raccoonswillonedayrevolt "What you are describing is antisocial behavior and possibly assault among other things. And luckily those are already covered by existing legislation."

Yeah. But legislation doesn't stop evil little shits shoving fireworks through pensioners' letter boxes, or seriously maiming pets and wildlife. They've got to be caught first - and they aren't. And even if they were, what? Wouldn't it be a better idea not to have miniature bombs on sale in the shops for any moron to buy? I mean, I would've thought it's a no brainer. But maybe you see it as an infringement of human rights.

Yes. I think it’s insane anyone over 18 can purchase something so dangerous. I’ve always said we should move to public displays only.

I love fireworks, the bigger and noisier the better. But am totally behind a ban on sale of fireworks to the general public.

I’d also vote for public displays only. In general, I hate feeling like the fun police but fireworks can be so dangerous.

100% yes. They terrify wildlife and annoy the feck out of me.

I find it astonishing they weren’t banned straight after six people were killed in a house fire in Hounslow caused by a firework three years ago.

Six people killed because of someone throwing a firework into a bin.

Actual explosives being sold to the brain dead in every corner shop. Genuinely baffling.

You already need a license in NI at least, it’s a deterrent to kids being able to get them. Surprised the same hasn’t been implemented in the rest of the UK

This. 👍

Yes absolutely should be banned. Someone was setting them off in a crowd recently, in a town near mine.

If I saw my neighbour playing with explosives any other time of year I’d call the police. Just because it’s “tradition” in autumn doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. We can all be nostalgic about things that were, looking back, terribly unsafe and wouldn’t be ok now - no seatbelts, smoking in airplanes, etc!

Fireworks are expensive, dangerous, awful for animals, awful for the environment. Organised displayed should have a special licence.

I LOVE fireworks- but agree they shouldn’t be sold to just any old twats. It’s insane! People should be required to have a lice’s for public displays.

Absolutely banned

I can’t believe with all the heath and safety they are still being sold to the general public

Yes. But this discussion comes up every year and nothing changes.