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Too easy to buy fireworks, more controls needed

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It's that time of year again, where fireworks are set off in our neighbourhoods, at all hours of the day and night.

Yes these fireworks are up for sale again already, and it's pretty much a free-for-all where teenage yobs are concerned.  It doesn't take much for them to get hold of rockets, bangers, roman candles, or whatever else they want, nor does anybody seem able to stop them exploding these things in quiet suburban roads, in litter bins, dog mess bins, under people's cars, in people's gardens, or wherever else may amuse them.

I personally don't mind if these young idiots get their arms or faces blown off, but can they please do it somewhere else, far away from my house.  I don't want to hear the drunken howls of laughter and/or pain on my estate at 2am.  I dont want to awake to the sound of fireworks near my bedroom window, or the relentless Bang!  Whoosh!  Fizzzzz which starts the moment the sun goes down, and finishes anywhere between 3am and 4am.

I wouldn't mind so much if it were just Guy Fawkes Night.  But it's not.  The "explosions-for-entertainment" season begins in early October and doesn't let up until late January.  This "silly season" is fast becoming a total waste of money, limbs, skin, and emergency services.

A lit firework about to go off with a bang! If fireworks were invented today, they'd be banned...

If fireworks were invented today, they'd be banned, or at least tightly licensed.  I mean, think about it: Dangerous explosives packed in brightly coloured cardboard, marketed toward children, and flogged over the counter at Tescos.  Surely this cannot be right?

Common sense dictates that fireworks - which are explosives - ought to be subject to very strict regulation and licensing.  They should be sold only to people who have a licence.  After all, just because the explosives are wrapped in brightly coloured packaging, doesn't make them any less dangerous, does it?

I'm no killjoy and I love organised firework displays, but the availability of these things for purchase by the ASBO generation is a recipe for disaster at worst, or a downright nuissance at best.

All I ask is that we have some common sense here.  Restrict sales to adults with liscnse to purchase fireworks.  Stop marketing the fireworks at young buyers, and stop selling them over the counter in high street shops and supermarkets.  It seems easier for a kid to get hold of a box of fireworks than a pack of cigarettes.  Both are potentially fatal, but at least the cigarettes are quiet.

It's strange how our Nanny State seems determined to stop us drinking or smoking, yet couldn't care less about children going out into their neighbourhoods at night and setting off fireworks.

Regulate firework sales now!  Make the buyer require a licence, not just the seller!  Bring peace and safety to our streets on dark autumn nights.


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collar

collar

The Airplanes and Crackerjacks were fun, roman candles too if held in hand - fireworks were much better when we were kids and our animals didn't seem to mind as much - pets need to get a life, horses too - horses are getting to be a real pain in the neck.
12/10/14 collar
-1
rob

rob

I disagree with everything you said. Fireworks are fun and you should not need a licence to purchase them. People like you are making this world very boring.
10/10/14 rob
-1
DSG

DSG

I've heard that children cannot buy Christmas crackers. Why? Because they count as explosives.
Seriously? They're Christmas crackers,not nuclear bombs!
09/12/10 DSG
10
MikeP

MikeP

"Australia has got it right, fireworks are not on sale to the public and are only available at organised displays."

I agree absolutely, Australia has many things right and this is one of them. Fireworks in the hands of the average moron who's necked a few pints of Tesco's cheap lager are a menace to people, animals, and property. They are also a monstrous waste of money.

I am all for a ban on fireworks.

This doesn't necessarily make Australia 'more advanced', it simply shows that they have a better approach to this and many other matters.
14/10/10 MikeP
20
Wise Guy

Wise Guy

Bring back the good old Standard bangers & Pains-Wessex Jumping jacks.Meanwhile,lets ban Christmas & Easter too.Get a life.Leave our traditions alone.
28/05/10 Wise Guy
-4
gainsborough lad.

gainsborough lad.

It's these sky lanterns being sold in the £1-00 shops that we should be worrying about,

Rockets should be banned, but at least on most of them, the fire is out on touchdown.
26/04/10 gainsborough lad.
-2
guy

guy

When a rocket is sold the buyer should be given an £80 litter fine, because thats what it is when it comes down.
26/04/10 guy
15
Idisagree

Idisagree

I disagree with the writer of this online complaint, I am not going to say anything else on this matter other than you can get it up you
01/03/10 Idisagree
0
Dundeebundee

Dundeebundee

Yeah lets celebrate Guy Faulk's mission failure by letting off lots of small fireworks to explode in the air. Are fireworks taxed? Good so they should be. Where would we be today without the uk parliament. cough
24/11/09 Dundeebundee
-5
Gainsborough lad.

Gainsborough lad.

Muggins, yes we can buy fireworks in this country, and almost every year someone gets ki11ed by one, one way or another, I can't see our government's ever banning their public sale,

But lets be thankfull we can't all go out to the shop in the town, and buy hand-guns, pump action shotguns, automatic repeating rifles, as many rounds as you can carry, no matter how many people get shot to death, I can't see their governments ever banning their public sale.

Only in the USA.
14/11/09 Gainsborough lad.
-5
Muggins

Muggins

Fireworks may be fun for some, but they cause annoyance and/or upset to others. They are also very damaging to pets and wildlife. Australia has got it right, fireworks are not on sale to the public and are only available at organised displays. How come they are more advanced than us?

I thought the lanterns were possibly a good idea, quiet and unobtrusive, until we found what looked like a huge condom by our back door. It was a lantern cover. I can just imagine how great it would be to have some of those land in the trees, they'd be like plastic carrier bags only worse, and you'd never get them down. They must also be dangerous to animals, all in all very un-environmentally friendly.
13/11/09 Muggins
-1
GRUMPYOLDWOMAN

GRUMPYOLDWOMAN

childish; to be fair the firework was pushed through the letterbox and it set the house on fire. If you are determined to set someone's house on fire all you need is a rag and a box of matches. So, banning fireworks wouldn't really help, would it?

You could try to ban everything which could be used to cause others harm; but think about it first. What would you prepare your meals and eat them with? How would you light the gas to cook anything? Pieces of rope, belts, ties, stockings & tights could all be used to strangle someone.

It is the mis-use of fireworks which cause harm!

grumpyoldwoman
10/11/09 GRUMPYOLDWOMAN
8
childish

childish

Congo, joking apart they are deadly, only yesterday on the news it was reported that a mother was ki11ed saving her son from a house fire caused by a firework, I don't find that at all funny,
10/11/09 childish
2
Congo

Congo

".......es they are pretty and a bit of fun but they can also be deadly"

The same could be said of women. :)
09/11/09 Congo
0
Mrs Practical

Mrs Practical

I agree with all your comments for and against fireworks, but the FACT is how many are put in the wrong hands every year, every year hundreds of people are left with scars due to irresponsible use of fireworks, yes they are pretty and a bit of fun but they can also be deadly.
09/11/09 Mrs Practical
-9

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