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Gail Lindley, DPD Reserve Officer, writes:

As one of the firework/safety officers for the Denver Police Department this past week and making contact with over 200 individuals in a three day period who had fireworks in their possession, I would like to share some of my experiences.
Almost every person I contacted alleged that they did not know that it was illegal to possess and use fireworks in Denver. After interviewing them further, some of them reluctantly admitted that they knew it was illegal. Though the question on everyone’s lips was “ why can we buy them, if we cannot use them?". Myself and the Denver Firefighter that I was teamed with did our best to address this question, but this is really a question that needs to be answered by our state policy makers...like you.
We took large mortar packages from a thirteen year old that had saved his money and purchased them in the projects from a man who was kind enough to deliver them...although the juvenile could not enjoy them because the safety unit confiscated them first. We had large parties who become angry and confrontational when we had to confiscate their nights entertainment as well, where they were set up in the street or in the parking lots of private businesses.
We had to endure the angry conversations with citizens, who had enough of the noise and could not understand why we could not issue tickets to people around the block.
And we had to watch the house burn on 33rd and Quivas, after it was hit with fireworks, while five DFD pumpers worked hard to save it. It is a total loss.
This is not a Denver issue, or Arvada or Lakewood issue. This is a state issue that gets ignored because the firework business generates alot of tax revenue for the state and counties.
My question is...is the loss of one’s home with everything in it which we hold dear...is it worth the cost of a pop bottle rocket?

This letter has not been edited.

READER COMMENTS

My question to letter writer Gail Lindley is why are we not allowed to celebrate the 4th of July the way we did years ago?All the fireworks she names bottle rockets,fire crackers and all the rest are used by the citizens of China.We in the freest country on the face of the earth are criminals if we light a SPARCKLER!!!!!!! She claims it is for safety reasons.What I would like to ask Gail Lindley is what other freedoms would you take away to make us unwashed masses SAFER?????

How about holding people accountable for their actions , NOT their purchases.. fireworks should be allowed, but if you are stupid enough to cause harm, you should be jailed for a substantial period of time!

This discussion is almost as timely as the cops who responded to the fireworks complaints at 33rd and Quivas -- after the house was engulfed in flames.

To the people complaining about "freedom," I'll put this simply: WE LIVE IN AN ALPINE DESERT! Basically, the whole area is a tinder box from mid-June through late September.

If you want to be free to set your neighborhood on fire, move out of town.

How about free to do what you will, but if what you will causes harm to person or property, then you are LOCKED up ?

Gail:

We make things illegal that shouldn't be, and so you spend too much energy responding to a non-existant crisis.

Noise and celebration are part of our American traditions for as far back as there have been celebrations of our Independance day.

House fires happen with or without fireworks, and old people complain because they've forgotten how to have fun.

Now we could put an EXTRA tax on fireworks to cover the expenses of the firefighters and police, but you know, don't sweat the small stuff!!

Don't try to drag us over here on the Western Slope into your Denver Metro problems. Over here we enjoy our freedom, that's why we do not choose to live in a nazi police state like Denver.
No this is not a Colorado problem, rather it is a problem for you urban yuppies in the big city on the front range. Please do not attempt to involve the rest of us in your "local" problems.

"House fires happen with or without fireworks, and old people complain because they've forgotten how to have fun.

You miss the point - if the house fire was caused by somebody who set off a type of firework just "to have fun" then that person should be prosecuted and held responsible for their actions, perhaps even sued by the homeowners.

Many years ago I grew up in a state where all fireworks except sparklers were illegal and yet many folks would travel out of state to obtain them and use them in their celebrations.

I haven't forgotten how to have fun but I have personally had to put out a fire in my backyard started by somebody's irresponsible use of fireworks. It changed my view somewhat. I suspect if it was YOUR house that burned to the ground due to fireworks, you might feel differently.

I don't think that you can ever rid people of their desire to set off fireworks, laws or not. But the law should make people liable and hold them responsible for their actions, including severe injury to their children and property damage.

How can you hold a 25-year-old guy who works a minimum-wage job responsible for burning down a $350,000 home?

Throwing him in jail is not going to replace that house and all the personal belongings that were inside it.

If you have ever lived through a house fire or known anyone who has lost their home in a fire -- it would change your priorities.

Setting off fireworks is fun - but how would you like to come home to a smoldering pile of ashes because a stupid neighbor was irresponsible?

Republican guy is right.We in the Democrat party believe that anything that can harm property or a person should be banned.You name it cars,boats,guns knifes,bats,matches etc.It is good to have a Republican Guy on our side.Also we Democrats believe that 25 year old guys with minimun wage jobs should not have any rights at all because they do not make enough money to pay for them.

True,

Where do you live? I have a whole bunch of illegal fireworks that I'd like to set off, and since you're not concerned about your house, I figure I can just set them off in your living room.

How's that for freedom, buddy?

Janis said ”House fires happen with or without fireworks”

But this one didn’t happen without it, it was in fact directly caused by fireworks.
Just because houses burn or people are injured for other reasons as well, doesn’t mean that we should disregard any specific cause. That would be like ignoring one cause of cancer because they are others.

”… but you know, don't sweat the small stuff!!”

I am sure that the owner of that house will be greatly relieved to hear that the loss of their house and its contents is “small stuff”.

Mr.True, so do you reckon we should go the other way?
No product quality requirements, no oversight on food or drug safety, and no regulations on occupational safety?

Bango Skank.I think you misunderstand where we Democrats stand on the safety issue.We say if it saves one life lets' ban it.If it saves one house,"ban it"If saves one animal lets' ban it.It may hurt freedom a little but we have evolved as a country to where saftey is MUCH more important that a little freedom.

Republican Guy wants to burn my house down?I must not be making myself clear.We Democrats are on your side. We want to ban everything that is unsafe.A supported a ban on large breasts at Hooter when I heard a customer had been injured.A waitress flung her large mammories in his face giving him whiplash.How would you like it if I brought those big mammories over to your house and hit you in the face with them.How is that for freedom?

Mr.True, you didn't answer my question.
Nice pantomime though.

You get another turn - what control and standards do you want on products and their use?

tick tock

Mr. Skank let me go into more detail.We liberal Democrats have safety standards that go like this.If it is something we like and it is dangerous then we make an excuse not to ban or restrict it.If it is something we do not like even if it is not very dangerous at all we look for a reason to ban it.One good example is fireworks.They are not very dangerous but they are used to celebrate a country we hate. So we talk about a house or two that was burned down by them.Our media friends jump on the issue and they are banned.We tryed it with guns but it did not work.Because most of our membership are cowards we have no use for guns and resent the fact brave people us them for self defense. It makes us feel like wimps.I can not think of anything that is dangerous that we like but will let you know if I think of something.

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