4 replies to this topic

[Nitrate lightning]

Some time ago I went to France, we went in to a newsagents and there right in front of us where stacks of bangers (petards). I brought around ?20 worth which got me a plastic bag full of them! My little brother who was 8 at the time was able to buy them!

Can you imagine if this was in the UK? Id probally have the police after me! You have to be 18 to buy sparklers in our local shop. This is ridiclous!

Its probally just because im 16, anyone over 18 probally wont be fussed. I have to resort to making my own fireworks which is far more dangerous then using brought ones.

I am a pyro and its in my blood, but even making homemade maroons wastes to much of my time. If I lived in France I could just pop round to the local corner shop and bingo.

They used to sell al sorts of intreasting things in the UK, untill a couple of years ago 1998 when the stupid BS law was taken into place.

Good old English bangers:




Check out what the french can buy!:






Long have gone those days for us brits. Soon laws will get even tighter and a full firework ban wouldnt surprise me

What do we all think?

[Jerronimo]

You can call yourself lucky, in Holland you are only allowed to purchase fireworks on the 29,30,31 th of december.
And even worse, can only light them between 10 am and 2 pm!!!

That I call a silly law.

[The_Djinn]

The reason these so called "silly laws" come into being, is that there are always a few idiots out there that get carried away and cause trouble by letting fireworks off all hours of the day and night. Eventually councils come under preasure from people living within their regions and the n goverments come under preasure from the councils.. and so new bits of law and legislation appear overnight. Everyone on this forum can play their part, if you have friends that fall in my so called "idiot" group, encourage them to play safe and encourage them not to cause trouble with fireworks otherwise we could find ourselves with a blanket ban on fireworks at the end of the day.

[BlackSky]

So you are all sad about this law !?
What about some countries those have laws preventing you from making, buying or even ordering fireworks at any time. OR, You will be a Terrorist.

Edited by BlackSky, 30 September 2004 - 10:47 PM.

[Phoenix]

You have to be 18 to buy sparklers in our local shop. This is ridiclous!

Personally, I don't think so. At what age should people be allowed to buy fireworks? 15? Most 15 year olds would probably use fireworks reasonably responsibly, but plenty wouldn't. By 18 people are usually a bit more mature.

The age restrictions and bans on salutes, whistle rockets and airbombs* are there for a reason - people have a right to peace and quiet, and those laws help to protect that. They also help to protect fireworks from a general ban. I suspect that if salutes, airbombs and report rockets were still freely available, a lot more people would get a lot more annoyed than they will this November, and the calls for a general ban would be even stronger. Hopefully fireworks will receive a little less bad publicity this year. In the right place at the right time, chest-thumping airbombs probably do lift the corners of any firework lover's mouth, but they are a small price to pay for the continued availability of more viusally interesting display fireworks.

*Having said that, whistle rockets and airbombs do still seem to be available... I thought that it was a voluntary withdrawal from sale, then a ban was supposed to come into effect this year...

Edited by Phoenix, 30 September 2004 - 05:02 PM.