Window on the West
Opinion column
by Mary Rupert
I realize there are a lot more important issues happening in Wyandotte County and the world right now, but I am going to weigh in on the topic of fireworks.
By far, the most reader comments we have received this past week had to do with fireworks in Kansas City, Kan. We didn’t even publish all of the comments, because some of them were anonymous or using an assumed name, and I want commenters to use their real first and last names.
Year after year, there are numerous injuries in Wyandotte County because of fireworks accidents. This year, KU Hospital recorded 15 injuries, including five amputations, and Providence Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan., saw 12 injuries from fireworks.
Our commenters told us that there were people shooting off fireworks as early as July 1 and earlier, when it was legal to shoot them off only July 2, 3 and 4. I myself heard what probably sounded like fireworks being discharged on July 1.
When I watched fireworks being discharged on July 4, a thick cloud of haze hung over the neighborhood. It certainly can’t be good for the atmosphere and it’s not good for people who have asthma or respiratory illnesses.
From the number of people sending us comments about it, it seems like it is important to many persons. I can’t figure out what people were celebrating on July 1 – it couldn’t have been a Happy New Fiscal Year, could it?
Anyway, the reports we received about fireworks, and sometimes guns, being illegally discharged leads me to think that some residents here do not want to comply with the laws. Some may say they don’t know the laws about fireworks, but that information is easily available on the UG website, in area publications and news reports, at the fireworks stands and at the fire stations.
It’s really time to pull the plug on fireworks in Wyandotte County. There are too many needless injuries from them. There are a lot of complaints about people shooting fireworks in the days before they are legal and late at night, when they are not allowed.
There’s no reason to think that people will ever change their habits, unless a complete change is made to outlaw fireworks here.
If the UG does make a change, then there probably needs to be more entertainment offered as an alternative on the Fourth of July. The community fireworks display at Turner’s Pierson Park is a good idea, and possibly a couple other community entertainment events could be added, with an effort made to find outside sponsors.
There is really only one group that I feel for, if there are no fireworks allowed, and that is the family businesses that sell fireworks. Any action should be taken early, giving them time to adjust to new laws.
An effort was made not so long ago to ban fireworks, but it did not succeed at the Unified Government. And it would be unlikely to succeed in the next year, also, because of an election coming up in 2017.
Shooting off fireworks certainly isn’t worth a trip to the emergency room and it’s not worth polluting the atmosphere. We should all seek alternative ways to celebrate the Fourth of July.
To reach Mary Rupert, editor, email [email protected]. Send your comments for publication to that email address or to [email protected] and be sure to include your name.