Posted 16 March 2004 - 07:44 PM
Here are a few points you might be able to use:
- People get hurt all the time by things like knives and baseball bats. It's called crime. However, the obvious solution is to make hurting people, not knives or baseball bats, illegal, as knives are very useful for preparing food, and baseball bats are very good for playing baseball. Similarly, fireworks are very good for producing pleasing combinations of light and sound, even though they can be used to burn mothers.
- _I would guess_ that most firework injuries happen to people who have chosen to use fireworks, not to uninvolved bystanders. People have a right to do something, even if it does mean risking their own personal safety. That's why public ice rinks and swimming pools have not all been closed down.
- Another large part of fireworks injuries _probably_ happen to people who are watching a home fired display. Chances are that they too have chosen to be there. No one is stopping them from going inside and watching TV instead. Spectators also occasionally get a ball in the face at (private, since she doesn't want public displays banned) cricket matches, but again, few people would support a ban on them.
- A small number of uninvolved bystanders will be accidentally hurt by privately used fireworks. However, a far greater number of uninvolved bystanders are no doubt hurt by private cars. You could ask your teacher whether she drives to work, and whether she thinks that the only traffic that should be allowed on roads should be public transport. The problem with this may be that people do need a license to drive. However, I, and I suspect quite a few other people on this forum, would favour a system where small fireworks (such as fountains, sparklers, small bore roman candles, small rockets, pinwheels etc) can be bought by anyone, like they can now. These are the equivalent of bicycles, which can be ridden on a road without the need for licensing. However, to use larger rockets, big bore cakes, mines, and small shells (about 2" or less, which I would have reintroduced) would require a certificate of some sort, to prove basic competency, and make people who abused such items easier to catch. Hopefully this would be accessible to anyone with an interest in the larger items, and prevent the number of accidents that occurred with them.
- As you said, when fireworks are legally sold, they (for us Brits) comply with BS7114. Making fireworks illegal will not stop people from wanting them, it will stop the right people from supplying them. It will mean that the only fireworks available to the public are ones that do not comply with any official safety standards. Fireworks will not be guaranteed not to contain unsafe mixtures, and fireworks such as large ground maroons will likely become available (which they are not, at the moment). Correct me if I'm wrong, is it not quite common for people from states where fireworks have been banned in the South West to travel to Mexico and stock up on very dangerous items they would not use, if legal fireworks were available in their own state?
There are several posts and threads about the environmental effect of fireworks in the rec.pyrotechnics archive which you could read. Chances are, most people won't know enough about the chemicals used in fireworks to consider half of these, but just in case:
- I remember reading that barium tends to find its way to the form of barium sulphate soon enough, and therefore loses its toxicity. This seems to make sense.
- Relatively few fireworks compositions produce sulphur dioxide. Black powder doesn't produce significant quantities. Much less than a coal fire.
- Cadmium is not used in fireworks. Neither is plutonium or anthrax.
- Mercury and arsenic are almost never used any more.
- The use of lead is decreasing, and not much was ever used anyway.
- Potassium compounds resulting from fireworks (carbonate, sulphate) are in fact very beneficial to plant life.
- The carbon dioxide produced most firework compositions comes from charcoal. This comes from wood. This is made from carbon dioxide. This reduces levels of carbon dioxide in the air. Thus fireworks do not contribute carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
These are just my ideas, and may not always be correct etc etc, but I think that they are. Hope they help...
thegreenman
