Should laws banning the sale of fireworks be regulated by the federal rather than state governments?

States

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by Unstoppable Force

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Fireworks... immediately the word conjures images of the 4th of July. Amazing fireworks shows as Old Glory sways majestically to the Star Spangled Banner and America the Beautiful and a host of other patriotic songs. Fireworks are traditions to i wouldn't hesitate to guess, every country in the world. China celebrates its New Years with elaborate fireworks shows amid the vision of fanstastic dragons. Yes, fireworks have been a part of American tradition since its inception to the world.

I can remember growing up, just before they decided to ban the use of fireworks by private citizens. I grew up shooting bottle rockets off into the night sky with my friends. I remember watching with delight as roman candles lit up my front yard, my friends and i chasing eachother up and down the block with sparklers for hours. Black cats, M-80's; we'd tie them together at the fuses and watch them explode in a deafening exibit of firepower. Nobody ever put an eye out or blew off their fingers, hands or arms. We had tons of fun and nobody ever got hurt in the process. I can't speak for to many other people in this world, but i was raised to be pretty careful where fireworks were concerned.

In truth, i don't think that fireworks should regulated at all. However, since that isn't a choice, i think the lesser of the two evils is to allow the states to continue to regulate the sale of fireworks. I say this only because, there are still a few places in this country, mainly the southern states where the sale of fireworks is still legal. I may not be able to buy and shoot off fireworks here in New Jersey, but i can still take a trip below the mason dixon line and buy fireworks til my hearts content. Once the federal government gets its hands on this particular issue, they can ban it across the country.

The federal government has already felt like they had to mettle in the affairs of middle class America, for quite some time now. The Patriot Act, allowing the fed's to listen in on personal cell phone conversations, peek into personal bank accounts, conduct wire taps and a host of other "technically" illegal things under the guise of "protecting" Americans. I would tend to think that the federal government has to many other issues to deal with such as losing a war, a country that distrusts them and taking hard earned money out of hard working Americans pockets without so much as a thank you to worry about the sale of fireworks. Thats just my opinion though.

I would ultimately think that the states themselves are more aware of whats good for their individual economies than the federal government does. If we can't just deregulate fireworks all together, the states should be able to decide for themselves whether or not they want to ban the sale of fireworks. I tend to believe that the old saying a few bad apples ruin the whole bunch doesn't hold up here. Perhaps when parents can take the time to teach their children to responsibly use fireworks as my parents, and my friends parents did... we can finally get back to having good, clean holiday fun with fireworks.

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