What’s your take on banning fireworks?

[Mad Cyril]

Some autistic people do, not all. My autistic son is enjoying the fireworks from the front window right now.

Hope he is enjoying the show.

 

[Mad Cyril]

I get that animals and some people don't like fireworks.

I don't like people mowing the lawn at 8am when I have a hangover or people in skinny tracksuit bottoms.

 

[Mad Cyril]

Regarding shows & events, It’s simple really. A pre-planned show, would be advertised accordingly, therefore giving the owner a chance to put measures into place to protect the welfare of their animal. Such as, taking them elsewhere for the evening, to friends, family etc. far away from the displays.

Whereas, the difference when having friends/family over to have some fireworks in the back garden, is that it will largely come without warning.

Look, replace the term pets, with, children who suffer from the loudness of these things. Or a former soldier who suffers win PTSD. Does it still seem fair, that they are forced to sit in their own home, shaking uncontrollably, panicking with anxiety, just because the next door neighbour, wanted to have his friends over, to let off some rockets?

Also, FWIW, I wouldn’t mind seeing them banned full stop, if it meant thousands of people & animals didn’t have to suffer the trauma & distress. The idea of limiting them to displays and shows, is a compromise. It allows people to still enjoy fireworks, whilst giving those who don’t, every opportunity to avoid them.

The thing is very few people go out of their way to upset animals, the disabled or traumatised ex-servicemen.

I'd be mortified if I did but rather occasionally and inadvertently do so that than spend my life walking on eggshells.

 

[Bielzibubz]

OK, but what about those that can't make arrangements. I take your point but it's rather simplistic and isn't really an answer. Someone or something will always suffer.

As to your second point, paragraph three, I wholeheartedly agree. Two good reasons to ban them all and one of the reasons why I stipulated 'if the sole case for banning fireworks is' because there are far more important reasons for banning them than the distress they cause to a pet.

 

[GBJ]

The thing is very few people go out of their way to upset animals, the disabled or traumatised ex-servicemen.

I'd be mortified if I did so but rather that than spend my life walking on eggshells.

Oh I get it, and like I said, I’ve bought & enjoyed fireworks plenty of times. I don’t believe anyone actually gets a kick out of the distress that fireworks can cause.

It’s nothing to do with walking on eggshells either. There’s an abundance of evidence to show what fireworks can do. It’s a simple case of not wanting to cause undue stress & trauma, to the innocent beings, who don’t wish to be subjected to war-like explosions.

Again, I can come up with several valid, irrefutable reasons for banning public use of them.

I can’t think of a single reason to carry on allowing public access to them

 

[Mad Cyril]

Oh I get it, and like I said, I’ve bought & enjoyed fireworks plenty of times. I don’t believe anyone actually gets a kick out of the distress that fireworks can cause.

It’s nothing to do with walking on eggshells either. There’s an abundance of evidence to show what fireworks can do. It’s a simple case of not wanting to cause undue stress & trauma, to the innocent beings, who don’t wish to be subjected to war-like explosions.

Again, I can come up with several valid, irrefutable reasons for banning public use of them.

I can’t think of a single reason to carry on allowing public access to them

I get your point but whilst it is legal I'll support the right for underage kids to purchase fireworks, cigarettes and alcohol from convenience stores and celebrate historical attempted acts of treason and sedition.

 

[GBJ]

OK, but what about those that can't make arrangements. I take your point but it's rather simplistic and isn't really an answer. Someone or something will always suffer.

Eh? Why wouldn’t someone be able to make arrangements?

As to your second point, paragraph three, I wholeheartedly agree. Two good reasons to ban them all and one of the reasons why I stipulated 'if the sole case for banning fireworks is' because there are far more important reasons for banning them than the distress they cause to a pet.

Again, you’re - inadvertently - doing an injustice to the pet owners, who have to sit helplessly by & watch their pet suffer, and in some cases, die.

 

[Shrimpers are Magic]

Of course they should only be sold for organised displays. We are allowing explosives to be sold to the general public - it's f****** ridiculous.
Bravo Sainsbury's for being the first major supermarket to stop selling them.

 

[MK Shrimper]

Oddly quiet last night....maybe it was the weather?

 

[OldBlueLady]

Oddly quiet last night....maybe it was the weather?

Not in Benfleet it wasn't.

We used to organise a firework display for the PTA at our kids' school, in conjunction with the one just down the road in Rushbottom Lane. My friend Lesley and I ran the PTA pretty much for over 10 years and this was one of our biggest fund raisers of the year. We'd always get a professional display company in. Those that know the geography of the area will know that Montgomerie used to have a huge field to the back of it (before Glenwood School got built there), and that's where the display went on.

We used to put flyers through the doors of those who backed onto the field or those along the front advising them of the event and offering them free entry too. It kept those neighbours informed and allowed them to make whatever arrangements they needed to for themselves or their pets.

Used to love those evenings - we'd always finish with a bottle of red wine between us, the Head and the caretaker and his family as we damped down the bonfire at the end of the evening! We'd be back the next morning to pick all the firework debris up from over the field and playgrounds and remove all the bonfire remains.

You can't beat a responsibly organised display. Happy days.

 

[Mad Cyril]

You can't beat a responsibly organised display. Happy days.

Maybe not for safety but I prefer the thrill of an amateur display in a tiny back garden where alpha male types compete to bring the most expensive and inappropriate fireworks and then drink heavily whilst letting them off.

My brothers birthday is on the 5th November and this was the formula every year until a large firework fell over causing the entire audience to hit the deck as a barrage of ordinance flew inches above our heads.

The entire side of the house was covered in scorch marks and looked like something from a war zone.

 

[thenobster]

Third option, ban them totally.

 

[KevinJH]

Oddly quiet last night....maybe it was the weather?

Not where we are - like frikkin' Armadeddon here, going on 'til late ?

 

[MK Shrimper]

Not where we are - like frikkin' Armadeddon here, going on 'til late ?

There was a big communal display organised by the council at a nearby park and it was pretty incessant rain, but heard some rockets about 8pm as I put the young 'un to bed, but that was it. However I bet it'll be like the Blitz on Saturday....

 

[rigsby]

You can't beat a responsibly organised display. Happy days.

Apart from the one at that rugby club. Smoke from the fire drifted across the motorway, causing a fatal crash.

 

[GBJ]

Predictably, the emergency services came under attack last night.

Imagine watching that video, knowing that was your son/daughter/mother/father, being used as target practice.

https://news.sky.com/story/riot-pol...ds-street-battle-11855338?dcmp=snt-sf-twitter

 

[kaymac]

Apart from the one at that rugby club. Smoke from the fire drifted across the motorway, causing a fatal crash.

I drive past that rugby club regularly, it should never have been allowed to hold a firework display in the first place being it’s so close to the motorway.

 

[MK Shrimper]

I drive past that rugby club regularly, it should never have been allowed to hold a firework display in the first place being it’s so close to the motorway.

Do you need some sort of licence to hold a public display? I imagine if the wind was blowing in another direction nothing untoward would of happened.

In fact: In April 2014, the West Somerset coroner concluded that the accident was caused by dense fog, and that smoke from fireworks may have been a contributory factor, but was not the prime cause of the incident

 

[kaymac]

Apparently no license is needed, only a lot of common sense.

The coroner seemed contradictory in his own findings, whilst stating that he regarded fog was the main cause he then admitted that smoke was also likely a contributory factor to the visibility issues.

 

[MK Shrimper]

Apparently no license is needed, only a lot of common sense.

The coroner seemed contradictory in his own findings, whilst stating that he regarded fog was the main cause he then admitted that smoke was also likely a contributory factor to the visibility issues.

No one was convicted of any crime in regards to this.