State Senator Introduces Legislation to Rein in Fireworks
(Senator Glenn S. Anderson Press Release, July 16, 2014)
After another July 4th resulting in countless complaints, injuries and outcry from local officials and citizens across the state, State Senator Glenn S. Anderson (D-Westland) will introduce legislation this week to restore Michigan’s fireworks law back to its pre-2011 regulations, prohibiting the sale of Class C fireworks. This would reinstate the ban on aerial and explosive fireworks, which account for the vast majority of noise complaints and serious injuries.
“When state fireworks law was gutted in 2011, I was the only Senator to oppose the change and my position has not changed,” Anderson said. “The complaints I’ve received from residents in my densely-populated district have only made me more confident that this change was a monumental mistake and that the greatest good would be served by repealing the 2011 law.”
Current state law allows for the use of aerial and explosive fireworks the day before, day of, and day after a national holiday. Communities are granted the authority to regulate the timeframe that fireworks are allowed on those days, but many have had little success in doing so. With fireworks available on virtually every corner, sales have skyrocketed, leaving numerous local police departments without the resources to address the problem. They consistently state that it is impossible to track every individual igniting explosives outside of the approved timeframe.
Tales of untrained revelers being maimed by explosives designed for celebration are not hard to come by. This year, the explosion from a firework left four young girls from the Detroit-area fatherless and last year claimed the life of a 35-year-old Clinton Township man. The days surrounding July 4th brought mayhem to a St. Clair Shores family who lost their garage, two cars, and almost their home as well to a fire caused by the smoldering remains of a firework raining down on their roof. Neighboring homes suffered severe damage as well.
A lawsuit is currently pending after an incident in Inkster last year that resulted in a young man losing his right hand. The victim’s attorney claims that his client was using the product in accordance with the instructions; however, the firework was packed with an amount of explosives “far in excess” of the federal limit of 50mg for consumer-grade, ground-based pyrotechnics and 130mg for aerial fireworks. Statistics released by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission last year show that only 67% of the fireworks tested met the aforementioned regulations. The vast majority of these fireworks are manufactured in China and imported to the U.S.
Proponents of the 2011 law have argued that surrounding states, such as Indiana, were stealing revenue from Michigan as citizens crossed the border to purchase prohibited fireworks. However, in practice the total amount of new income has been relatively low and much of it has had to be reinvested in safety programs which haven’t proved successful at preventing injuries caused by fireworks themselves.
“It is my hope that my colleagues have been listening to the concerns of Michigan’s citizens and are ready to admit that allowing these fireworks was a mistake. It was foolish to pursue the promised revenue at the expense of public safety and peaceful use of our homes,” Anderson said. “I love to celebrate Independence Day as much as anyone, and the freedom to do so responsibly is important, but we need to again restrict the use of these fireworks to those properly trained to use them.”