Pol: Fireworks ban ‘absurd’

The Bay State is losing millions of dollars in possible tax revenue each year, according to one state lawmaker, because of its archaic ban on fireworks as neighboring states make a killing on sparklers, fire crackers and bottle rockets.

"The prohibition on them is absurd," state Sen. Robert Hedlund (R-Weymouth) said. "It's obviously not stopping people from partaking in a long-standing tradition."

Hedlund said the state loses an estimated $2 million in taxes annually to states such as New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Maine that have legalized fireworks to varying degrees. The Bay State is one of four states that ban all consumer fireworks.

"It's estimated we lose about $40 million in yearly sales," Hedlund said.

He is the latest lawmaker to try to overturn the ban — a transportation tax bill amendment he sponsored in April was shot down 1-31.

Hedlund proposed giving cities and towns a local option to license sales.

"State government is dominated by paternalistic, nanny-state oppressive, anti-freedom policy makers, so I was trying a limited approach," he said.

Fireworks is a booming industry: U.S. sales grew 127 percent since 1998 to $645 million in 2012, according to the American Pyrotechnics Association.

"It can be pretty significant money for a state," said Julie Heckman, executive director of the APA.

In its first year after legalizing low-grade fireworks in 2010, Rhode Island reported collecting $2.5 million in taxes, according to the APA. Meanwhile, Maine, which legalized fireworks last year, collected $380,000 in taxes in the 12 months through May 31 on sales of $7.6 million, more than triple the initial revenue estimates.

Massachusetts, meanwhile, has hewed since 1943 to a model fireworks law promoted by Quincy's National Fire Protection Association, with state Fire Marshal Stephen Coan as its staunchest advocate.

"The Fire Service, along with a very strong coalition of medical professionals … is opposed to any attempt to weaken or change the laws," Coan said. "It's clearly safety."

But the APA argues that when consumer fireworks are legal, the number of injuries and fires decrease.

"People who are breaking the law tend to do this activity very quickly ... and that's when then most mishaps and fires occur."

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