Terminator

Does anyone know what has happened to Weco's Superblitznall rocket this season.

I have had various answers from shop keepers ranging from they've been banned to they've been superceded by the Euroblitz which I know nothing about and I am suspicious of as a watered down version. Does anyone know the truth as they truly are the best Category 3 maroon type rocket I've found.

Al.

Now that the government has the power to effectively ban all Display Category fireworks or at the very least the more powerful and therefore the best ones, I wonder if the best defence for the fireworks industry would be to get the government to look at the New Zealand Model.

In New Zealand, low powered (Standard Type 5m fireworks) are available on general sale in the two weeks before bonfire night.

However, Display fireworks are available all the year round as over here but on a permit only basis. The advantage of the New Zealand system is that proper display fireworks of the type that were banned from public sale (ie. 3" mortars, maroons, star shells and the like) a few years ago here are available to permit holders.

This system thus keeps the powerful fireworks out of the hands of teenagers and those who behave irresponsibly whilst still allowing enthusiasts to still pursue their hobby to the max. on a semi-professional basis.

I would suggest that maybe over here we could take this a little further and require a (cheap) licence to be held by those wishing to fire display fireworks, with the licence being available only to those over 25 years old, who have passed a (cheapish - ?50 max) safety course and who have no criminal convictions. The license could be issued by the police in the same way that a shotgun license is issued.

This should be sufficient to keep the licences in the hands of those who should really have them.

A permit system could then operate in addition whereby a (free) permit was issued to license holders on request to enable purchases for events other than New Year and Bonfire night.

I know some may baulk at the idea of licensing, but isn't this better than losing our biggest, best and loudest fireworks?

Al.