Fireworks

This year I have pleased to notice that in my local area at least, there have not been the problems with fireworks that can plague communities. While I can understand that fireworks are fun to see, personally I do not understand why they are available to the general public. Organised displays I have no problem with, but every year people are injured by fireworks. Normally at home displays.

Also, there is a significant minority who abuse fireworks and every year the news is full of reports of incidents where fireworks are abused or used as weapons of fear. In fact there has been a case of a woman who has been killed in a house fire started by the misuse of fireworks. As can be imagined the police are treating this as a murder enquiry.

A major part of the problem is that far to many retailers will sell fireworks to people that the law says can not buy them. It is often the same retailers who sell alcohol to children, therefore feeding the problem of anti-social behaviour. However this year the fire brigade who have the duty of inspecting the premisses where fireworks are sold, have objected to all applications because of the real risk of the fireworks causing a forest fire in the local woodlands. Therefore, there has been almost none of the normal problems for the residents and the wildlife.

There were still organised displays, and I have heard of no problems with them. Nor have I seen evidence of illegal bonfires in and around the woods. Over the past couple of nights I have been wandering around to check on fires being lit in the woods. Fortunately the weather aided this by saturating the area.

Therefore while I am a believer and advocate for freedom, it is completely illogical that we could have the right to buy explosives. Following the tragedy of nine eleven, there was a real opportunity for the government to have changed the law and stopped the annual rain of terror by the two legged rats that create fear in communities. But the economic argument won out. So we still have the situation where the brain dead can still buy explosives and fire rockets at peoples homes, stuff them through letter boxes, or throw them at people.

What the fire brigade and the local authorities have been able to do locally has worked. By keeping fireworks out of the hands of individuals has not stopped organised displays, yet it has prevented a lot of nuisance behaviour.

However, I would also question the whole ritual of Guy Fawkes Night. When I was a child the question was always asked what were we celebrating? Was it the attempt to blow up parliament? Or that the attempt to blow up parliament failed? The reality is that it was always an anti catholic celebration. Thus while the “Tradition” endures the true origins of the so called festival are now down played.

As the so called festival is founded on the torture and killing of the catholic perpetrators of a terrorist plot, it makes no sense. It would be as distasteful as celebrating the violent death of someone from a contemporary event. There is enough religious hatred in the world without us celebrating anti catholic feelings today.

I know my view is not a popular one, and most people choose to ignore the origins of the festival and don't care about the way that Fireworks are misused. But I genuinely think that Fireworks really should not be available to the general public.