As the Fourth of July approaches, Champny’s Fireworks in Bow stocks its shelves with rows of products such as the “Total Blowout” and the “Final Burn,” each promising colorful explosions, loud sounds and up to 500 grams of firepower.
New Hampshire residents over the age of 21 can legally buy almost any Class C fireworks – everything except firecrackers, bottle rockets and devices that produce solely smoke, according to the state’s Department of Safety.
For a while, it looked liked the rules might change. House Bill 1266, legislation proposed to legalize the sale of firecrackers, passed in both the House and the Senate last spring.
But on May 31, Gov. Maggie Hassan vetoed the bill, voicing concerns about the health and safety of state residents.
“In New Hampshire we have a long tradition of a balanced regulatory approach when it comes to our fireworks industry, an approach that focuses on minimizing risk to public safety and protecting all citizens’ quality of life,” she said in a statement.
This balance between public safety and public access in the fireworks industry would be threatened by the sale and use of firecrackers, Hassan added.
“It is unnecessary to change current law – which already provides public access to fireworks while aiming to minimize public safety risks – by repealing a prohibition on some of the most dangerous types of fireworks,” she said in the release.
State Fire Marshal Bill Degnan said he agrees with Hassan, citing firecrackers as one of the leading causes of injuries in the national industry.
“They’re small, but they do explode. And when they do, those pieces of cardboard can fly apart and injure eyes and hands,” he said.
Firecrackers can also be used to start panics in a crowd, Degnan said.
“Can you picture going down to Hampton Beach for Fourth of July weekend and letting off a strip of firecrackers? Today people are very sensitive to that,” he said. “It sounds like gunshots.”
The House voted to override the veto June 16, but the Republican-sponsored bill did not receive the needed two-thirds majority. State Rep. John Burt said he wasn’t surprised.
“That’s the political process. But there’s no real reason that we shouldn’t have them,” the Goffstown representative said. “Maine has them, other states have them. Today’s firecrackers, really, they’re almost just noisemakers.”
Burt sponsored the bill with four other members of the House in response to firework retailers – especially those near the border with Maine – who said they were losing revenue because of the ban.
Deborah Colby, owner of Champny’s Fireworks, said firecrackers would not have a huge financial effect on her business. For her, it’s more about customer satisfaction.
“It’s a general expectation in this business,” she said. “They just expect that if they can buy all of this, that firecrackers would be legal. They actually think it’s foolish that they can’t buy them.”
The family-owned store in Bow has been in the industry for about 20 years. Over the years, Colby said they have formed a strong bond with the office of the state fire marshal to educate customers about the proper way to use fireworks. Safety has – and always will be – her top priority.
Ultimately, Colby said she thinks her customers understand the risks they undertake when buying her products.
“People understand when they ride a motorcycle, there’s inherently more risk than being in an automobile. And they’re willing to take that risk,” she said. “And I don’t think they should be told they can’t do that.”
Stephen Pelkey, CEO of Atlas Pyrovision Entertainment Group, said he was happy with the outcome of the bill, unlike most of his peers in the fireworks industry.
“Firecrackers are so often widely misused that I think they would have eventually caused the legislature to react – not only would they ban firecrackers, but also a whole other list of things,” he said.
Pelkey’s company runs six firework retail outlets – five in New Hampshire and one in Maine. The Maine store sells firecrackers, including rolls containing 8,000 small explosives for $109.50, but only to keep the store competitive with other state businesses, he said.
“They’re what I would consider a nuisance item,” he said. “There’s no aesthetic value, there’s no display value.”
While fireworks in general have become more regulated over the years, people still have the ability to misuse them, Pelkey said.
“You can’t regulate common sense,” Pelkey said. “I think legislatures for a century have tried to do that and it hasn’t worked.”
Burt said there are plans to reintroduce the bill next year. Perhaps, with a new governor, the outcome will change.
This year, people will just have to enjoy their Fourth of July weekends without firecrackers – and they seem be preparing to do just so, if sales at Champny’s are any indicators.
“It’s our busiest two weeks of the year,” Colby said. “It’s our Christmas.”
(Katie Galioto can be reached at 369-3302, kgalioto@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @katiegalioto.)