Organised Firework Displays

[barry luxton]

Trouble is there more mindless morons around then ever before, you would need treble the amount of police to keep them under control.

 

By policing i speak about deterrant that the morons would understand and not plods on the hoof. In this lilly liverd nanny state, they make the law and fail to carry it out or a big enough stick, that's all it needs. Wonder if branding them on the forhead as a maronic moron with a hot poker would do the trick.

[Janet]

Trouble is there more mindless morons around then ever before, you would need treble the amount of police to keep them under control. l repeat nothing at all wrong with fireworks, in the right hands

 

I agree, if there was some way of making certain that they stayed in the right hands. I normally loathe and despise knee-jerk reactions and blanket bans, but I'd happily make an exception for fireworks after my experience.

 

This time of year, two years ago, whilst waiting for a bus home, I was subjected to an alarming and scary attack by kids (all well under 18) armed with fireworks. They were lit and thrown at me, and whilst I tried to avoid the explosions, they tried to snatch my handbag. They didn't succeed, but that incident has left me very scared of loud flashes/bangs, and very reluctant to be out in the evening on my own. If a ban would prevent this happening to anybody else, I'd be all for it.

 

Don't be too quick to make judgements until you've been on the receiving end of this sort of behaviour. I assure you, your views WILL change when it gets personal....

 

Janet

[kleinboet]

The best thing I saw was a young man (25-30) pick up the thunderflash that was thrown at him by a 13-14year old kid and returned it in microseconds (turns out he's in a top cricket team!), it hit the kid that threw it full in the face and exploded, causing him to have 37 stitches. The police refused the parents demands that he be charged - instead warning the parents that it THEIR responsibility to keep fireworks out of underage hands!

Edited November 3, 2007 by kleinboet

[Ken Davison South Wales]

It is really sad to see a few morons mess it up for everyone.

 

I am lucky living at the top of a hill over looking two valleys, blinds drawn back, sat in the warm admiring and comparing several different displays, much better than being out there in the cold

[snakey1]

Or do you prefer to accuse a sensible response by sensible people as merely crack pot PC do gooders?

Makes your argument seem more credible does it?

So a sensible response to the misuse of fireworks by the criminal few is to ban them altogether even though millions of responsible people safely use and enjoy fireworks every year.I personally would have thought that a sensible response would be to prosecute to the full degree of the law anyone caught misusing fireworks as a deterrent against others doing so, afterall as has been previously stated the laws are already there to deal with said criminals, there is no need to persecute the innocent as well as the guilty.

Your argument that you need to wear a seatbelt to drive a car is a bit weak as well as actually you don't, you only need to do that to drive one legally and there are plenty of people who still drive without wearing seatbelts as there are plenty who drive without tax , insurance or even a licence yet as elton says i don't see you calling for a ban on cars.As for trying to tie the warehouse fire that has killed one firefighter and left three others missing to fireworks and their availability to the general public, well i think you are the one going OTT. there has been no mention in the news that i've seen blaming the warehouse fire on misuse of fireworks just that arson is suspected.

[Janet]

He may have made assumptions about the tragic events regarding the firemen, (to be honest, at this time of year, I thought fireworks too) but I've also seen the TV footage of the incident he mentioned where a commercial firework was set off in that shop. That wasn't innocent fun - somebody could have been severely injured or killed. It's a miracle that it didn't turn into another tragedy.

 

The fact is that some of the fireworks available to the general public today are far, far, larger and much more dangerous than the ones we had available when I was a child. We had simple rockets (fired from a milk bottle - anybody remember them?), bangers, Catherine wheels, sparklers, aeroplanes etc, that are relatively harmless compared with the stuff that's on sale now. (Oh dear, that shows my age, doesn't it?)

 

Despite my negative experience, I'm sitting here in the safety of my living room, watching some great displays. I wouldn't like to stop that as I'm sure there are some kiddies out there tonight staring up to the sky in innocent wonder as my son did, but I would very much like to see stricter controls, and some more visible enforcement of the laws to stop them being abused by our ever-growing mindless minority.

 

Janet

Edited November 3, 2007 by Janet

[Guest sandpipper]

Your argument that you need to wear a seatbelt to drive a car is a bit weak as well as actually you don't, you only need to do that to drive one legally and there are plenty of people who still drive without wearing seatbelts as there are plenty who drive without tax , insurance or even a licence yet as elton says i don't see you calling for a ban on cars.

 

Funny you should say that i was watching postman pat with my 4yr old today and noticed he wasnt wearing a seatbelt and his van hasnt got a tax disc in the window.

 

Colin w that is so funny

[Elton]

Funny you should say that i was watching postman pat with my 4yr old today and noticed he wasnt wearing a seatbelt and his van hasnt got a tax disc in the window.

 

Aren't certain delivery drivers exempt from having to wear one? So are taxi drivers, I believe, in case they get attacked.

[snakey1]

He may have made assumptions about the tragic events regarding the firemen, (to be honest, at this time of year, I thought fireworks too) but I've also seen the TV footage of the incident he mentioned where a commercial firework was set off in that shop. That wasn't innocent fun - somebody could have been severely injured or killed. It's a miracle that it didn't turn into another tragedy.

 

The fact is that some of the fireworks available to the general public today are far, far, larger and much more dangerous than the ones we had available when I was a child. We had simple rockets (fired from a milk bottle - anybody remember them?), bangers, Catherine wheels, sparklers, aeroplanes etc, that are relatively harmless compared with the stuff that's on sale now. (Oh dear, that shows my age, doesn't it?)

 

Despite my negative experience, I'm sitting here in the safety of my living room, watching some great displays. I wouldn't like to stop that as I'm sure there are some kiddies out there tonight staring up to the sky in innocent wonder as my son did, but I would very much like to see stricter controls, and some more visible enforcement of the laws to stop them being abused by our ever-growing mindless minority.

 

Janet

I've seen the footage rabbit refers to as well and the idiot in question if & when caught should be prosecuted to the full degree that the law is capable of, as should the minority of irrisponsible shop owners who sell fireworks to minors, but what you wont have seen broadcast due to it not being news worthy are the thousands of people who do enjoy fireworks responsibly why should they be punished for the acts of the idiotic few, yes i'm sure i could trawl the news websites and cherry pick a couple of dozen or maybe more cases of fireworks being misused but in comparison to the number of people using them safely it is probably a miniscule percentage so why should those people be held responsible and made to pay for the acts of a few morons.

Edited November 4, 2007 by snakey1

[Elton]

If anyone knows where there are organised displays this year in Walsall, Solihull or anywhere else in the Midlands, can you please post them here as this thread is receiving loads of visitors today searching for them and I don't have a clue?!!

 

Cheers