A possible ban on the sale of safe and sane fireworks was considered by the San Bernardino City Council on Wednesday in preparation for the Fourth of July holiday.
The moratorium is intended to give the city time to think about enacting a permanent ban.
“It’s dangerous. It scares me,” resident John Shollenberger stated. “I’ve worked all my life for that house and I don’t want it to go up in flames.”
Because he is concerned about the careless usage of fireworks in the city, Shollenberger said he usually spends the Fourth of July at home.
“I think what it stems from is that people get the idea that ‘Oh, fireworks are legal in the city of San Bernardino, we can light off whatever we want!’ No, that’d not it.”
According to the city, the harmless and safe fireworks—which are only offered by authorized nonprofit organizations—are frequently used dangerously, which results in a rise in police calls.
“How are they making decisions on what you can and can not do?” resident Anthony George Lang Jr. stated. “I can see if you’re doing something unsafely.”
Lang claimed that because he enjoys setting off fireworks, he disagreed with the proposed prohibition.
The city spends $269,000 providing permits and enforcing laws for fireworks, but making approximately $94,000 year from sales.
When police officers are compelled to react to both legitimate and illegal fireworks calls, it further overburden them.
“I’m concerned with how they may impact our enforcement overall,” San Bernardino Police Department Darren Goodman stated.
The moratorium might not make neighborhoods safer, according to Goodman. He maintained that his personnel are better able to suppress the more potent and hazardous illicit fireworks when they use safe and sensible ones.
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Operations against illicit fireworks, particularly in 2024, are also funded by tax money from the sale of safe and reasonable pyrotechnics.
“We went out, we did undercover operations, we did social media purchases of illegal fireworks, and we collected so many by the fourth,” Goodman stated. “By the time the fourth came around our calls for service for fireworks went down.”
