7/03/2009

Regulating fireworks: "Not having the freedom to celebrate freedom"

Regulation gone out of control. From the Washington Times:

Americans will celebrate their freedom on Independence Day with a certain irony tomorrow. Not all Americans have the freedom to celebrate the holiday with the traditional festive bang. That's because many places ban fireworks.

Although about 94 million of us live in states that allow all sorts of fireworks and firecracker use, 43 million Americans live in six states - including New York and New Jersey - where you need a permit to even light a sparkler. California bans some types of fireworks and allows cities to expand what is prohibited. Safety is supposedly the major concern of those who ban our celebratory backyard light-and-noise shows, but their fears are overblown.

Banning personal use of fireworks may actually result in more accidental fires because some of those who try to avoid getting caught set them off in remote fields, causing fires that take longer to discover.

This issue is badly distorted by the media. . . . .

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Blogger JFA in Montreal said...

According to http://www.cdc.gov/HomeandRecreationalSafety/Water-Safety/waterinjuries-factsheet.htm

"In 2005, there were 3,582 fatal unintentional drownings in the United States, averaging ten deaths per day. An additional 710 people died, from drowning and other causes, in boating-related incidents."

They should ban getting near water, water buckets, swimming pool, etc or mandate the wearing of a safety vest anytime we get within 50 yards of a body of water containing more than three gallons... The safety vest should have a collar large enough to prevent falling and drowning accidentally in a bucket (many babies die that way, apparently), an aquarium. If no life jacket is worn (as in a bath), a certified lifeguard ought by law to monitor the event.

You can never be too prudent...

On a more serious note...

The Canadian firearm law, is, in Quebec profince, as publicly show in the Sûreté du Québec's (provincial police) organigram at http://www.suretequebec.gouv.qc.ca/mission-et-services/organisation/organigramme.pdf not under the administration of criminal affairs or protection of the territory, as one would expect from a law allegedly intended to protect life and reduce crime, but by "Institutional Affairs" directly and solely under the "Directorate of the Protection of the State"

Having had personal experience in rocketry, the first thing most people associate with rocketry and fireworks is "making bombs" (and think you are making bombs or drugs as soon as they learn you have a chemistry lab at home).

Politicians are not immune to common defective thought behavior; they just have more tools to legally enforce their misconceptions.

7/03/2009 3:24 PM  

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