Here we go again

[Arkangel]

Well, it's that time of the year again!

I'm not happy to see teenage wankers in hoodies terrorising pensioners, but banning fireworks isn't the answer. Shame the idiots crying for a ban can't work it out.

Anyway, here's (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/3242901.stm) a range of views from Britain at the moment regarding our beloved hobby.

Some right pricks in there, I must say!
Every year I have to put headphones on my poor dogs because of wretched fireworks. I play them Bach to steady their nerves, but they're clearly unhappy. I'd lock up all the firework people AND set off a banger in their cell.
No wonder they're unhappy, they're DOGS, and dogs hate Bach just as much as they hate fireworks;)

Hahahhhhaaaaaaaa

[Tuatara]

Here in NZ we've had 'The Fireworks Lady' campaigning for a total ban for the last 20 years. Crackers went first, then rockets, then sales became restricted to 1 week before Nov 5. I don't have a problem with those changes. We all had a damn fine night last night with some quite impressive consumer fireworks. An Australian family joined our group too, they were most impressed, having never had the opportunity to play with fireworks themselves - as I believe they've had a total ban over there for the last 15 years.

I found the comment from the Japanese person on Arkangel's link to be most enlightening. Fireworks available all the time, and no accidents! The restriction of sale to a limited time I think induces a 'binge' mentality, with the attendant problems as people try to cram a year's worth of pyro fun into a couple of weeks.

History has shown again and again that prohibition just does not work. In fact the reverse is often true - ease up on the restrictions and a lot of problems just go away.

Alcohol, tobacco and cars injure, maim and kill more people than fireworks ever will.
Education is the only answer.

[Sparky]

I agree with you about the binge mentality there. In Canada I see kids getting smashed every weekend because they aren't supposed to drink, and weekends is their only chance. In Europe I understand alchohol is much more accepted and easier to get. I think that's why their achohol problems seem to be a lot less. Now that I think about it, it seems that it's the same idea with fireworks-if they are restricted then people go nuts with them when they can. That's not to say I don't think we shouldn't set off lots of stuff when we can, seeing how it is banned the rest of the year. It would certainly be better if fireworks were allowed all the time though.

I have a dog and I like my dog. She hates fireworks mostly because she's scared of them, not so much because they hurt her ears. Maybe the loud bangs do hurt her ears so I do keep those away, but she is scared of fireworks that are almost silent too. She knows how to cover her ears to reduce noise, and doesn't when fireworks are going off. I wish she wasn't so scared and I try to keep them away from her but I mean come on - too fucking bad, there's nothing to be afraid of so stop whining. Sounds harsh but it's true. I understand lound bangs might hurt a dogs ears. But my dog is scared even of fountains and stuff so (for her) it's mostly not the fact that they actually hurt their ears. Rather, dogs are scared of things they don't understand. Lot's of dogs are scared of lightning and guns. What are you gonna do though? Try and help your dog to get over it. It's certainly possible. Just look at hunting dogs - they're not afraid of guns going off. Lots of dogs hate vacuum cleaners. A lot of cleaners use noise cancellation techniques that produce lound high frequencies. Also the nozzle on a vacuum cleaner can produce lound high noise. Do the wusses of the world want to ban vacuum cleaners too? (Watch them say yes and then complain about their dirty carpets :rolleyes:. )

Just a short while ago Mike Swisher posted some staticstics about fireworks safety, some about deaths and some about injuries. The injury ones were slightly less impressive than the death ones. I thought one of the best death ones was that an average American was 180% more likely to die from their pyjamas catching on fire than from fireworks. The average american is 10 times more likely to get hit by lightning than die from fireworks.

"I don't have a problem with those changes."
If it was me, I would have a big problem with these changes. As you and I well know it's one step at a time to totally banning fireworks. And let's face it I'm sure you can live with these new regs but wouldn't it be better if you didn't have to?

Oh man, I have so many angry rebuttals to make to the people in that article. But they aren't going to read it anyways so there's no point. I notice lots of people on there are saying that liscenced organizations should be able to still work their stuff without any more regulations. The thing is that they don't know that the same idea is happening to commercial fireworks. From reading newsgroups I get the message that more regulations are making it harder and harder to put on displays also (seperate regulations of course).

[peterthesmart]

Making fireworks illegal only increases the illegal transport and use of them which may in turn cause more harm than bad. Here in the US, the use of fireworks is decided upon by the states. I believe that they should ban the use of any aerial devices in cities or places with high rise buildings for obvious reasons. Using fireworks out in the country in the middle of no where isnt going to harm anyone other than the slight chance of yourself, but that's a risk that we're always taking when we do something. We should be making fireworks safer, not banning them!

[Tuatara]

Love the comment about the pajamas! It highlights a couple of lectures from my unversity days about 'actual risk' vs 'perceived risk'. Example given in the lecture was : odds of getting hurt by a nuclear reactor -> about 1 in 100 million. Odds of getting hurt on a motorcycle -> about 1 in 50. Yet you don't see organised protests trying to ban motorcycles!

As for the restrictions we have - I don't miss crackers, in hindsight they are just a messy, noisy nuisance. I do miss rockets, but they were banned because of the fire hazard mostly - lots of bush fires got started by smoldering rockets coming down a long way from the launch site. As for the sales restriction - I've never known any different so theres nothing to miss. The cracker and rocket bans have been in place for over 10 years, the good news is the ground based stuff seems to have become even more impressive to compensate.

[nzrockets]

Tuatara, Just because you cant buy skyrockets and crackers doesn't mean there gone for ever just make them your self , and now some of the fireworks you can buy now have golden tails just like rockets so you can tell the difference. also this year Magic whips were baned

[Wild Catmage]

Curse the animal-loving, chemical and "bomb" fearing sheeple population of Britain. I have very little time to wait until I can legally buy fireworks for use at home. I would never dream of using fireworks against people or animals, as there is nothing that can't be achieved with a good trap (cage, snare, or break-back), or a shot from an airgun.

I am only just starting out with making fireworks, and am especially interested in rockets. This season is the best time for letting off any of my arsenal, as the neighbours have little reason to complain, when they are letting off fireworks.

Even if the government decides to ban the sale of fireworks in the UK, people will go elsewhere (e.g. France) and get them. There are shit-all customs procedures on the Eurotunnel, so many people pass through it that its impossible to screen them all. Also, the attitude in France around pyrotechnics seems to be "you are responsible for your actions and should take necessary precautions to reduce danger." In France, fireworks are on sale all year to anyone, no matter their age. French safety laws are also less restricitve, and you can get fireworks that are now banned in the UK such as jumping jacks and tourbillions.

If sick people can be stupid enough to make nail bombs out of them that can kill or maim innocent people then they should be regulated and treated like explosives or firearms like the sale of bullets.

That reply I agree with. Should I wish to make a fragmentation device, wouldn't a primary, such as HMTD or AP, be more effective and cheaper to make,as opposed to using some unknown substance from a firework. A low explosive such as chlorate black powder (ingredients are available from all good garden centres :D ) would work effectively too. I already have the cast iron pipe, all I need now is the "tap and die set" and some endcaps...

I believe there's a ban in Bristol on firework cakes due to the "yoof" playing at war with them, and having shootouts. Also, a distant friend told me that in his local news, some "yoofs" blew up a hamster with a firework rocket. Sounds like an expensive stunt to me - Hamster £6, Rocket £10, look on neighbours face when hamster erupts into red mist, priceless :D

Nzrockets, whats a magic whip?

[Anthony]

"As an astronomer, I have come to fear and loathe the fifth of November, when my lens is smeared with the primary-coloured sparks that so delight the slack-jawed masses. If you want to do fireworks, do them in a barn or something, and stay away from my sky."

What a condescending, arrogant, selfish wanker :mad:

[Arkangel]

Yeah, that sums him up. I picked up on that one too, but there were so many that I decided to quote the headphones one instead, as it didn't annoy me as much.

Arrogant, pseudo-intellectual prick

[Tuatara]

Especially when your consider that the light pollution from the cities does more harm to his star gazing, all year round.

[VX]

I don't know if anybody in the UK noticed, but a few years ago you could buy 'Standard' 'Black Cat' and 'Cosmic' fireworks here in the UK. Standard fireworks are made by black cat, so really it was only two makes available. Now, cosmic fireworks were reasonably priced and were far better than either black cat or standard, which were incidentally much more expensive! Basically every firework made by standard or blackcat had a cosmic equivalent which was just bigger and better.

However, this year, despite my looking I have been unable to find anyone selling cosmic fireworks, has anyone else found them or is this the first step of the fazing out of fireworks altogether?

I did ask the owner of my local shop why he hadn't got cosmic this year... (He normally has them) and he told me that they were not offered to him to buy.

[CommonScientist]

"As an astronomer, I have come to fear and loathe the fifth of November, when my lens is smeared with the primary-coloured sparks that so delight the slack-jawed masses. If you want to do fireworks, do them in a barn or something , and stay away from my sky."

Hmm, he wants to ban fireworks by making imature tweens go set them off in a barn, create a fire, then they die because they oculdnt get out.

"get away form my sky"

That is the most selfish thing I have ever heard.
Cock-sucking ass raping lesbian slut eating dog fucker sums it up pretty good, although I may have over done it a bit .;)

[tmp]

Fireworks are the main reason I like chemistry. Here in the U.S. what you
can have depends on what state you live in. There appears to be 4
distinct levels:

1) All 1.4 consumer class fireworks - Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Kansas,
Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico,
North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee,
Texas, Washington(state), Wyoming.

2) "Safe and Sane" - no aerial or exploding fireworks - California,
Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky,
Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina,
Oregon, Utah, Virginia, Washington(D.C.), West Virginia, Wisconsin.

3) Sparklers and Novelties only - Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Pennsylvania,
Vermont.

4) All consumer fireworks banned - Arizona, Delaware, Georgia,
Massachusettes, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island.

All 1.3 fireworks can only be sold to or used by licensed pyrotechnicians.
Cherry bombs, M-80s, ashcans, blockbusters are forbidden by Federal Law
as per the Child Protection Act Of 1966.