Unsafe pyrotechnics is ever American's birthright.

That's what our Founding Fathers fought and died for.

That's good advice except here in Canada, we celebrate July 1 so you may be too late for us!
Happy Canada Day!

There's a sign on Fred Meyer's fireworks display that says "Please don't set off fireworks in store". It's sad that they feel the need to have a sign telling people that : P

OTOH, spectacular fireworks misadventure = potential Darwin award.

I wish the TSA would let fireworks on planes so I could blow shit up Wednesday night. I have to leave the fireworks at home for this vacation :(

I wish people would obey the "no fireworks" laws. I've been jumping at the sounds of firecrackers going off at 2AM for the last week. I live in a "no fireworks" county...

funny enough... I was in Barcelona for the Summer Equinox... Feast of San Juan... it sounded like the Normandy Invasion... made the 4th of July seem like a senior citizen's home activity.

Shouldn't things like safety precautions be common sense?

If some idiot has not realized this, assuming he was not born just yesterday, then he deserve to get his fingers blown off.

[www.tian.cc]

Fireworks expert. Yeah, that's funny. I don't think they employ a fireworks expert at the dollar store down the street from me where the idiots who live in my neighborhood stock up on their pyrotechnics.

"If you don't understand [fireworks] or aren't sure how to use them, ask the firework experts before you leave the store."

Ya know, I'm thinking that if you don't understand or know how to use fireworks, you should probably leave them alone altogether.

Another rule: How about we don't light off fireworks around the houses if it hasn't rained in about a month.

Always have an alternative method of lighting your fireworks available, such as a Dell laptop.

@FunPaul: Tell that to my hoodlum neighbors. I have never been able to go on vacation over the 4th since moving to Oakland for fear my house will burn down. These assholes shoot off professional fireworks. Sometimes sideways down the street. Someday they're gonna burn the neighborhood down.

Bah. Bunch of worry-warts on Consumerist today. My youth is filled with loving memories of blowing up everything under the sun with M-80s, 1/4 sticks of dynamite, cherry bombs, Roman candle battles in the street, and the like. Nobody ever hurt once.

That is, if you don't count the little sting from holding an incher in your fingers when it pops. And maybe some singed arm hair from holding bottle rockets too long. And OK, that one kid did have to go to hospital for a cut on his face when we blew up that old commode. That was a solid day. [/wipe tear from eye]

Anyways, the golden rule is: If it's bigger than your pinky finger, you probably shouldn't hold it in your hand. Otherwise, light it and run.

"ask the firework experts before you leave the store"

You don't get good fireworks from the store, silly. You get them out of a wooden shack or the back of a trailer on the indian reservation.

Our overly maternal local government has outlawed all fireworks.

We are also required to wear bike helmets, even adults, even on bike trails.

What a bunch of cowards we've become.

Bah, not like you can buy the stuff that's worth all the warnings, anyway. Government regulations limit the amount of powder allowed in consumer-grade fireworks, and since our state passed a law saying you have to be licensed to purchase 1.3G ('class B') fireworks, it's hard to get the fun stuff.

@savvy9999: Amen.