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Jacob Gilbert
Professor Bryan McQuide
POLS 120
April 14th, 2017
Fireworks Regulations/Legalization Across the Country
One of America’s favorite past times is to celebrate its independence and there is no
better way to do that than to shoot off fireworks. Even though firework sales in the United States
have been going on for hundreds of years many states are not legally able to sell fireworks within
their borders. Just recently the Iowa legislature passed a bill that would allow the state to sell
consumer-grade fireworks after a 79-year ban. Although this bill may seem minuscule to other
legislative issues across the country, it is important to understand why this ban was lifted and
how other states have dealt with the issues of fireworks throughout their history.
Since 1938 the state of Iowa has had a ban on fireworks. The original cause of this ban was
from a fireworks explosion seven years prior in the town of Spencer. The destruction and origin
of Iowa’s nearly 80-year prohibition are clear:
A lighted sparkler in the hands of a small boy ignited a fireworks display in a corner drug
store today, starting a fire which virtually wiped out the business section of Spencer, a
city of 5,000 persons. Swept up the black and across the street by a gentle southwest
breeze, the blaze, encouraged by occasional bursts of fireworks in other stores, razed four
blocks of business buildings, causing damage estimated at $2,000,000 by Leo C. Dailey,
secretary of the commercial club. (Beitler)
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Considering this disaster, the Iowa General Assembly has finally passed a bill that will allow the
sale of consumer-grade fireworks by licensed retailers in either permanent buildings or tents
through certain dates of the year. The bill is supposed to be signed later this month by Gov. Terry
Branstad. Much of this bill will adopt laws from more than half of the states in this country
which allow the sale of consumer-grade fireworks within their borders.
Unlike Iowa, Massachusetts does not only prohibit the sale of fireworks within its borders but
also does not allow the use of them by any private citizen. Per Summary of Massachusetts
Fireworks Law MGL Chapter 148, S. 39., “It is illegal for private citizens to use, possess, or sell
fireworks in Massachusetts, or to purchase them legally elsewhere and then transport them into
the state. The law prohibits any article designed to produce a visible or audible effect”. I think
that this is extremely ironic with Massachusetts being one of the first states to declare and
