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Wait, officer, you're telling us it's illegal to shoot off fireworks in Boston? Golly!
By adamg on Sat, 06/06/2020 - 8:34pm
Seized fireworks.
Boston Police report officers seized a metric buttload of fireworks in the parking lot of the St. Peter Lithuanian Church on Flaherty Way last night after responding to "numerous calls and community complaints in the area of Gavin Way."
All parties on scene no doubt looked up at officers with big saucer puppy eyes as they proclaimed "they were unaware that fireworks were not only illegal in the City of Boston but across the entirety of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as well."
The officers did not run them over to C-6 for booking, but instead took them at their word and merely informed "everyone gathered on scene that, in addition to the mandatory seizure, they could also face monetary fines for their actions" and then, after collecting all the fireworks, presumably sent them on their way.
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Comments
I didn' know!
I swear I didn' know fireworks have been illegal in this state forever!
I swear, officer!
I was just on a liquor run up to New Hampshire and figured I'd buy some pyrotechnics up there rather than at my local fireworks store in Southie.
Good one!
Good one!
And after the officers left, they broke into song
Accountability?
Sorry if folks are tired of viewing things through a racial lens, but it is important.
So, what was the racial makeup of the group that received a warning in Southy instead of being charged?
Without documentation, it's impossible to determine whether the use of leniency in this case before it got into the system was part of a pattern of bias.
I bet the assumption as to who the perps differs based on whether you accept that there is a problem in the US.
So we need better transparency here, so that the public can see what the behavior actually is.
Given that this is all about PR to begin with, it seems unlikely that we would not have seen a note that the group was racially diverse should that have been the case.
Ohhh the Boston Harbor
Hopefully these are saved for a sanctioned event, not some cop’s house party.
For Chrissakes
Legalize them, then decree 9-10 every night for a month Community Fireworks Hour. Four hours of community service if you go past 10.
Seriously, is governance and punishment really this difficult?
Uh
If you get community service for firing them off at a certain time, then it's not legal. And who says that 9-10 is the acceptable time to fill your neighborhood with loud exploding pops every night? Some people have children in bed or dogs that go nuts when they hear loud noises. It's a densely populated area. Also you'd have to deal with with fireworks related injuries at a higher rate. Maybe more people in the area are good without people lighting off tiny missiles all the time and your decrees would upset them.
It's easy to say governing is easy when the extent of your experience in typing out hypothetical situations that have never gone into practice.
You're full of bad ideas, aren't you?
So you're saying that you're willing to pay the hospital bills for all the kids that get injured by your hair-brained civil sanctioning of playing with explosives?
Harm reduction though
I hate the things too. They're torture for many people with anxiety, PTSD, autism, hearing loss, etc. Plus with the quarantine, it's even more obnoxious, since people are doing job interviews, oral exams, music auditions, and so forth from home, and people do get judged on whether there's a bunch of noise in the background. Also they're often made with child labor. My personal preference would be to just outlaw fireworks completely...oh wait.
So, as someone who has lived in places where most of them are legal, I will say that people do generally abide by restrictions on the hours they're allowed, and people are much more aware of basic safety precautions. In places with legal usage, the news outlets will run safety tips, like keeping them away from foliage, hosing down brush first, not lighting them in hands, not letting kids use them, and staying completely away from M-80s and similar shit. I wish we could move to something like we're trying with substances, where we say not to use it at all/if underage, but if people do, to at least be educated about how to not be an idiot.
Generally
In MA, where they are illegal, people generally do abide by that restriction. It only takes a small minority of boneheads to destroy everyone's peace & quiet. Which is why they do it, like boom-cars and loud Harleys.
Okay
How do the states where fireworks are permitted reconcile that? They get shot into the air, and I don't recall having read in the news in 17 years in Boston a single item about a kid injured because an adult shot a firework.
We wouldn't have most modern conveniences if we banned everything just because a child *might* get hurt.
Just because you haven't read about it
Doesn't mean injuries haven't happened. A few years ago two children under 10 were injured when a firework exploded. One faced amputation. A house fire started last year from fireworks. Within the last month fireworks were shot into an open window of an apartment. Those examples are just off the top of my head.
Fireworks aren't a modern convenience. Far from it. They aren't safe in the hands of the general public, either. It's an item designed to explode.
Yeah
You haven't noticed many articles about fireworks mishaps in a place where they aren't allowed? Maybe the banishment keeps the numbers low.
Also I went to Google and typed in "fireworks accidents Boston" and immediately found incidents on the first page.
Also he said children not children caused by adults. You added that part because it's a cherry pick. The number jumps when you add kids getting hands on fireworks alone.
Also you only responded to one thing that he didn't even really say. What about all the other listed examples of people that get terrorized by fireworks? Did you not respond to it because it was a good point and you didn't have a solution?
Seriously
You're that dumb that you didn't know Adam?
Huh?
Huh?
Flaherty Way/Gavin Way
When I first read this the wording was a little mixed up. Gavin Way is in the Mary Ellen McCormack (Old Harbor) development. Flaherty Way (Saint Peter's Lithuanian Church) is in the West Broadway or D Street development. It's two different locations. It's just an observation, I know this is from the press release.
Another observation. There does seem to be more fireworks this year.
Southie
That's all. But it's in Mattapan too.
Shocked!
Shocked!
https://tenor.com/U0ol.gif
I'll see you with my nub
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiyNbYf1Q_8
Covert Mission
The “Covert Mission” firework name is a dud as far as fireworks go.
I would expect not to know it had “gone off” if made properly.
Covert fireworks. Sigh.