Well another Fourth of July has come and gone, and for those of us that reside in Iowa, it was another year of basically no consumer fireworks. Many years ago (I believe in the 1930's) there were a couple fires started by fireworks which caused some serious property damage. These incidents led Iowa to create one of the first restrictive state fireworks laws.

To date, the only fireworks that are legal in Iowa are gold sparklers, snakes, and caps. Not only does this restrict the use of common consumer fireworks such as rockets, firecrackers, and fountains, but it also PROHIBITS the use of other very tame fireworks. Among those prohibited are popular items such as party poppers, morning glories (wooden sparklers that crackle and produce non-gold sparks), and snaps. These are common items that you can even find for sale at some Iowa stores.

This is a little bit insane. For one, party poppers and snaps contain such a small charge that there is relatively little chance of fire or injury. Additionally, metal sparklers (which are allowed) are, in my opinion, one of the most dangerous fireworks out there. Why? Because we assume they are safe for kids to play with when, in fact, they can get as hot as 1000 degrees. We then give these to little kids to wave and run around with. This is a recipe for a serious burn if ever I saw one. The wooden sparklers are much tamer. The wooden stick burns away so you are not left with a nearly-molten piece of metal in your hand. At least with items such as rockets and firecrackers, which we assume come with some risk, we (usually) behave in a safer manner.

Now, what about the financial aspect of all of this? Iowa has prohibited the sale of fireworks in the state, but several neighboring states allow fireworks sales. You then have fireworks stores popping up right across the state border that will sell to Iowa residents and charge them a hefty price in the process. Low supply means high prices. All the sales tax revenue then goes to the neighboring states even though the goods are intended to be used in Iowa.

So the bottom line is that many Iowans are still purchasing and using fireworks despite the laws against it. I live in a fairly heavily populated little neighborhood, and I have neighbors launching rockets, and shells every year. Granted, I think this is a little bit too close quarters for this type of activity. The one that gets me the most aggravated, however, is when you go to the city's fireworks and you have moron amateurs lighting roman candles and rockets in the vicinity of a parking lot crammed with 50,000 people. Yet I've never once seen a cop enforcing the "no tolerance" rule.

My suggestion is to make consumer fireworks (rockets, fountains, shells, candles, etc) a legal, but regulated activity. Make people get a license or even take a safety class. I seriously doubt that fireworks would cause more damage than other allowable items like cars, guns, candles, cigarettes, etc.