Petition to ban the sale of fireworks to general public

Hoof_Prints said:
... but let's face it, a firework party usually involves a lot of drinking, and since when did drinking with explosives end well !
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The vast majority of fireworks parties end well. Either fireworks parties don't usually involve lots of booze, or usually people manage to mix explosives and alcohol just fine.

Obviously bringing horses properly indoors isn't an option, but fire works are just not loud enough to piss off neighbours indoors unless the neighbours are looking to be annoyed. I grew up in a terrace with 20m back gardens and it never occurred to us that the firework fans next door were an annoyance.
 
undergroundoli said:
The vast majority of fireworks parties end well. Either fireworks parties don't usually involve lots of booze, or usually people manage to mix explosives and alcohol just fine.

Obviously bringing horses properly indoors isn't an option, but fire works are just not loud enough to piss off neighbours indoors unless the neighbours are looking to be annoyed. I grew up in a terrace with 20m back gardens and it never occurred to us that the firework fans next door were an annoyance.
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The firework parties I've been to are obviously different to the ones you've been to then, I remember very well that after a few drinks, the blokes got competitive and tied all the rockets together, let off a big display firework in a small garden (it covered three gardens when it went off!) and played chicken with the fireworks when lit. Yes that is just a small example, but it happens. They can be very dangerous and the fact they are so easy to access gives the impression that they are safe and idiot-proof, when they are not . I know many will say that there are a few bad examples causing a stir, but fireworks are not something that is contained and harmless to anyone who doesn't want to be involved such as animal owners and their animals or people nearby. When a firework goes off, it can affect anyone within a relatively large radius
 
Hoof_Prints said:
The firework parties I've been to are obviously different to the ones you've been to then, I remember very well that after a few drinks, the blokes got competitive and tied all the rockets together, let off a big display firework in a small garden (it covered three gardens when it went off!) and played chicken with the fireworks when lit.
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I'm not denying that the above is a stupid thing to do, but I assume you'd have said if the evening hadn't actually ended well. No one was hurt, nothing was broken, they didn't set fire to anything. Like the vast majority of people who do stupid things with fireworks your mates were fine because fireworks are not particularly dangerous.

Hoof_Prints said:
They can be very dangerous and the fact they are so easy to access gives the impression that they are safe and idiot-proof, when they are not .
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It is banning risky things that means instead of assessing risk for themselves people assume that if it is legal it is safe. The answer is not to ban fireworks, which are hardly ever in the news for causing fire or serious injury, the answer is to expose people to more risk so they learn to evaluate it.

If we ban fireworks because some people do stupid things with them but overwhelmingly get away with it what do we ban next? Loads of teenagers enjoy spraying aerosols across lit cigarette lighters. Do we ban deodorant? What about petrol? Flaming football is a popular game in which you dip loo roll in petrol, set fire to it and then kick it around.

My boyfriend works in A&E, and while his experiences are in no way statistically significant he's had more 'customers' who've ended up there having done stupid things with BBQs than fireworks.
 
undergroundoli said:
I'm not denying that the above is a stupid thing to do, but I assume you'd have said if the evening hadn't actually ended well. No one was hurt, nothing was broken, they didn't set fire to anything. Like the vast majority of people who do stupid things with fireworks your mates were fine because fireworks are not particularly dangerous.



It is banning risky things that means instead of assessing risk for themselves people assume that if it is legal it is safe. The answer is not to ban fireworks, which are hardly ever in the news for causing fire or serious injury, the answer is to expose people to more risk so they learn to evaluate it.

If we ban fireworks because some people do stupid things with them but overwhelmingly get away with it what do we ban next? Loads of teenagers enjoy spraying aerosols across lit cigarette lighters. Do we ban deodorant? What about petrol? Flaming football is a popular game in which you dip loo roll in petrol, set fire to it and then kick it around.

My boyfriend works in A&E, and while his experiences are in no way statistically significant he's had more 'customers' who've ended up there having done stupid things with BBQs than fireworks.
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I agree with what you are saying, and I am no health and safety freak as I mentioned earlier. I just feel that fireworks, due to their size and noise can impact a lot of people/animals in a relatively large area when compared to things such as lighting aerosols and "flaming football" .
 
It costs a fortune to buy the really noisy and big fireworks. Are people really being bothered by these week in week out in towns and cities around the country? I live looking down on Manchester (geographically speaking :) ) and I don't see them except for organized events.

To be honest, the dog stories remind me of a program I once saw. The dog was absolutely terrified of a motorway footpath bridge. It sat down and refused to move. The trainer dragged it over by its lead, and half way it stood up and trotted happily to the other side wagging its tail. It was the owner telling the dog it was a terrifying thing, and when it had a leader telling him it was fine, then it was fine. I've had several and known loads of dogs and not one of them has been afraid of fireworks.

I don't doubt there are some genuinely nervous dogs, but I can't see why a fairly harmless pleasure should be banned for so many people because of them.
 
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cptrayes said:
It costs a fortune to buy the really noisy and big fireworks. Are people really being bothered by these week in week out in towns and cities around the country? I live looking down on Manchester (geographically speaking :) ) and I don't see them except for organized events.

To be honest, the dog stories remind me of a program I once saw. The dog was absolutely terrified of a motorway footpath bridge. It sat down and refused to move. The trainer dragged it over by its lead, and half way it stood up and trotted happily to the other side wagging its tail. It was the owner telling the dog it was a terrifying thing, and when it had a leader telling him it was fine, then it was fine. I've had several and known loads of dogs and not one of them has been afraid of fireworks.

I don't doubt there are some genuinely nervous dogs, but I can't see why a fairly harmless pleasure should be banned for so many people because of them.
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We had one firework adverse dog when she was young the house was struck by lightening it left shared of thunderstorms shooting and fireworks She was very scared so firework time we left the door to the bed room open she went under the bed when unhappy came out when she was ready we ignored her in time she settled .
I don't like fireworks myself but lots of thing impact on others adversely and I am not into banning things .
 
I have had one dog that was frightened of fireworks out of the many I've owned, no matter what we did he never overcame it, and we certainly didn't reinforce his behaviour by fussing him and making him more fearful. We tried desensitising, ignoring using zylkene and dap collars and thundershirts etc.

They made him hypersensitive to all noise that hadn't bothered him previously and when the crowscarers started going off then he wouldn't even leave the house. It became so bad that I was even considering rehoming or pts, all because a single neighbour was stupidly letting huge rockets off that fired into our conservatory.
 
Camilla's Aunty Em said:
Thunderstorms are just as scary & we can't ban them.......
Just as an addition & to give you all a laugh..... I grew up in Belfast in the 70s & 80s. I moved to Glasgow in 1998 & the first time I heard a banger let off in the street, I hit the deck, thinking someone had discharged a gun! They are banned in Belfast, what a tw** I looked. LOL
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lol my uncle is irish and is like a bloomin kid on bonfire night! for him it's still a bit of a buzz to be able to have fireworks (he's 42 lol).
I do think it's rather odd that you have to have a licence for a shotgun or any firearm but anyone over the age of 18 can buy a firework.
But i won't be signing as I don't think banning is the answer, tighter regulations yes, but not an outright ban.
 
My old Collie used to love them! I made a point of playing with him whenever we heard one because the dog we had before was a nervous wreck with then. So he just used to run round throwing toys about when the fireworks started :)

Instead of banning everything idiots just be made properly accountable for their actions.
 
fburton said:
They certainly seem to be louder than they used to be in my childhood, and I have worse hearing now! Do they need to be quite so loud?
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Unfortunately the sound is from the explosion, I'm sure if they could make just as good looking ones quieter they would.
But it either more difficult or more costly
 
lastchancer said:
Instead of banning everything idiots just be made properly accountable for their actions.
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I strongly agree with this principle. The problem is making people accountable!

When I was a teenager, I used to buy all manner of chemicals to experiment and perform chemistry demonstrations. I used to enjoy making my own small scale fireworks, gunpowder, etc. which I managed to do without injuring anyone or burning the place down, and learned quite a lot of useful stuff in the process. Why on earth shouldn't people be allowed to do that these days?? Well, the answer is obvious of course, but I find it very sad. :frown3:
 
smellsofhorse said:
Unfortunately the sound is from the explosion, I'm sure if they could make just as good looking ones quieter they would.
But it either more difficult or more costly
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Fair enough, but it isn't just explosions, is it? There are those awful wailing fireworks - banshees? - which we always had, but I swear they too are louder these days.
 
sorry but petitions on this are pointless. year after year they are made and get thousands of signatures, but the government says there are ruls and regs and nothing need be done.:mad:
 
In fact some genius has just started letting bangers off in our street. The cats won't come in, one because she's too cool for school & the other because he's just had a baby sparrow & is too busy swaggering, but I worry. Thanking hell our field is 8 miles away.
 
happyclappy said:
sorry but petitions on this are pointless. year after year they are made and get thousands of signatures, but the government says there are ruls and regs and nothing need be done.:mad:
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Well, eventually, it will dawn on some bright politician that fireworks contain explosives and any-one who wants to make a bomb just needs to buy a lot of fireworks and then BAM!
 
My horses love the fireworks. They line up in the field watching them. I've yet to be on a livery yard where any of the horses were bothered. They get more excited when strong winds are forecast.

Ban the wind. Oh, and mud too. They hate mud.

Lets ban everything that gives people pleasure, then we can all sit at home annoyed because there's nothing left to get annoyed about.
 
It's not the noise that bothers me.

It's sickos who put them under horses rugs and light them or tying them to defenceless animals and setting them off..

To many complete idiots are allowed to have them and do wicked things with them... But if not fireworks there's always something else to be idiotic and cruel with not sure banning will be effective.
 
Sorry for my ignorance but I don't have a dog.

Do they not learn that after say the first few bangs that nothing is going to hurt them? Or is it just the loud noise they don't like?

We've had pretty bad storms here recently and people were mentioning how their dogs don't like the thunder whereas my cat just slept through it all haha :D
 
ecb89 said:
Sorry for my ignorance but I don't have a dog.

Do they not learn that after say the first few bangs that nothing is going to hurt them? Or is it just the loud noise they don't like?

We've had pretty bad storms here recently and people were mentioning how their dogs don't like the thunder whereas my cat just slept through it all haha :D
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Well, my oldest dog afraid of thunder and everything that even remotely similar but he is got a very good reason for it.
We had a lightning strike to our house or telegraph pole nearby in the middle of a night back in Portugal. I heard a loud crack, bang and a blue lightning? electric discharge? coming out of a socket (daughter saw the same in her bedroom). The poor dog had a full blast when telephone socket in the room where he was sleeping, exploded and bits flew all over the room even though the socket itself was well hidden behind settee (thanks gods it was made of fire resistant material!!! it still had 20p size hole in it). Basically, 3 villages had theirs tv boxes, routers and telephones fried that night.
Needless to say, after such experience its quite understandable that with first cracks of thunder he is trying to climb on the couch with me, or get under the bed near me, or, recently, he was trying to get between my feet like baby penguin :).
 
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