Fireworks go out with a bang
Sean Roberts
Issue date: 7/1/09 Section: Opinion
On Independence Day, the average college student will be hanging out with their friends or family, setting off a few fireworks or just generally having a good time. Well, not if the Illinois legislature has anything to do with it. Illinois really seems to be an anti-fun state.
Illinois law gradually started to criminalize fireworks, until present day where the most devastating fireworks one might buy are sparklers, or if they're feeling especially rebellious, snakes. University Housing policy even puts fireworks next to crossbows and firearms in the 'prohibited items' category.
I understand the reasons behind their decision to outlaw them. They do in fact cause some injuries, and if you don't use them safely you might very well lose an eye. The issue here is that the government is taking responsibility for people that should be responsible for themselves. We should not live in such a nanny state that the government decides for me whether or not I am responsible enough to buy a bottle rocket. While you might look toward some of the negative examples of people who clearly can't control themselves with fireworks, the vast majority of people are capable of keeping the damage to others and their property to a minimum. For those few who aren't able to keep things under control, they should be responsible for any damage they cause to themselves or others.
Irresponsibility is not something limited to firework use. Plenty of people have issues with driving, doing it too fast or recklessly. Instead of vastly cutting down drive time for most drivers to compensate for a few bad apples, most governments punish primarily the bad apples. If you can't drive safely, you can't drive at all. The same should apply to fireworks. If you've shown irresponsibility with fireworks in the past, then you should not be able to use them anymore.
When the government puts an outright ban on most fireworks, even with good intentions in mind, they inconvenience a large number of responsible citizens. While at first glance this inconvenience seems like it is worth it, for any dangerous activity there will be SOME people getting hurt. If we apply the policy that if some people get hurt because of this activity it should be illegal, we will have to make sure to outlaw sports, rough housing, jungle gyms, and cutlery.
Illinois legislatures should loosen up, chill out, and hang out with their other congressmen buddies on the 4th with some fireworks once in a while. Maybe then they will realize that they are just being too uptight on the matter. If they would prefer to stay in a padded room for the holidays I'm fine with that, but while they lock themselves up to protect themselves from the dangers of sparklers and bottle rockets I should be having fun blowing up stuff with my friends.
Illinois law gradually started to criminalize fireworks, until present day where the most devastating fireworks one might buy are sparklers, or if they're feeling especially rebellious, snakes. University Housing policy even puts fireworks next to crossbows and firearms in the 'prohibited items' category.
I understand the reasons behind their decision to outlaw them. They do in fact cause some injuries, and if you don't use them safely you might very well lose an eye. The issue here is that the government is taking responsibility for people that should be responsible for themselves. We should not live in such a nanny state that the government decides for me whether or not I am responsible enough to buy a bottle rocket. While you might look toward some of the negative examples of people who clearly can't control themselves with fireworks, the vast majority of people are capable of keeping the damage to others and their property to a minimum. For those few who aren't able to keep things under control, they should be responsible for any damage they cause to themselves or others.
Irresponsibility is not something limited to firework use. Plenty of people have issues with driving, doing it too fast or recklessly. Instead of vastly cutting down drive time for most drivers to compensate for a few bad apples, most governments punish primarily the bad apples. If you can't drive safely, you can't drive at all. The same should apply to fireworks. If you've shown irresponsibility with fireworks in the past, then you should not be able to use them anymore.
When the government puts an outright ban on most fireworks, even with good intentions in mind, they inconvenience a large number of responsible citizens. While at first glance this inconvenience seems like it is worth it, for any dangerous activity there will be SOME people getting hurt. If we apply the policy that if some people get hurt because of this activity it should be illegal, we will have to make sure to outlaw sports, rough housing, jungle gyms, and cutlery.
Illinois legislatures should loosen up, chill out, and hang out with their other congressmen buddies on the 4th with some fireworks once in a while. Maybe then they will realize that they are just being too uptight on the matter. If they would prefer to stay in a padded room for the holidays I'm fine with that, but while they lock themselves up to protect themselves from the dangers of sparklers and bottle rockets I should be having fun blowing up stuff with my friends.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
John Bracamontes
posted 7/01/09 @ 12:31 PM CST
The Department of Fireworks will now be issuing Fireworks licenses for the responsible users of fireworks.
There are plenty of legal fireworkish items in Illinois. (Continued…)
Bill Jamison
posted 7/01/09 @ 1:34 PM CST
Illinois is one of the heaviest taxed states in the land for housing and other needed items. Now this. Don't you just love it when the government tries to "protect" all of us?
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