Good afternoon,
Tuesday’s piece on the explosion of fireworks over the Fourth drew a reaction from readers.
No one rose to the defense of firing off ear-ringing displays in residential areas that traumatize some people and pets.
One reader did pass along a link to the Libertarian-leaning website Reason, which makes a logical case for legalizing and regulating fireworks.
Reason pointed to the debacle in Los Angeles. Poice raided an illegal fireworks storage operation and ended up with an explosion that damaged the neighborhood during an ill-advised detonation.
The LA situation was contrasted with the fully legal display in Ocean City, MD. In that case, workers were slightly injured when the explosives went off too early and led to the cancellation of the event.
In other words, fireworks are dangerous, but less so when a degree of legalization is in place.
Contrary to popular belief in Delaware and elsewhere, most of what you saw and heard over the holiday was illegal.
Delaware finally allowed sparklers and other ground-level fireworks. That seemed to embolden those looking to get their jollies with more spectacular explosives.
There’s plenty of precedent for legalization since government already regulates dangerous substances like tobacco and alcohol.
Another reader passed along the following taken from his son’s t-shirt that points to a related problem.
“Remember Children, Let the Drunken Adults Handle All the Dangerous Fireworks.”
A Delaware General Assembly prone to passing legislation dealing with problems that may occur has a chance to deal with a present-day issue.
We now have a segment of the population that enjoys fireworks year-round. But, unfortunately, it leaves police playing “whack a mole” in dealing with an issue that got far worse during the pandemic.
And the weather…
With some hesitancy, I posted news that Delaware Electric Cooperative and the Delaware Emergency Management Agency issued a heads up over the possible path of Tropical Storm Elsa.
East Coast storms tend to change paths and leave many “I told you so’s” among cynics.
Still, advisories should be taken seriously, given the risk of water and tornado damage to life and property. Winds are usually far less of a problem. – Doug Rainey, chief content officer
