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Taylor’s Takes: I’m thankful for Massachusetts’ ban on fireworks

While many of those who travel out of state to purchase their combustible contraband use them in a more or less responsible way, there are the few who don’t and ruin it for everyone else.

Mel Gibson had a very forgettable movie set in Boston called Edge of Darkness. In the only sequence I remember from the movie heavily laden with horrible Boston accents was one in which Mel Gibson’s character hands another man a loaded gun to use.

“That’s illegal in Massachusetts,” the recipient of the firearm says.

“Everything’s illegal in Massachusetts,” Gibson’s character retorts.

It was a laugh-out-loud moment because it rang so true. Gibson’s reading of that line plays in my head most every time the legislature is poised to ban something in the Bay State.

Most notably for me, in 2019 the Massachusetts Legislature banned the sale of flavored tobacco and nicotine products. The wide-reaching ban meant no more menthol cigarettes, Swisher Sweets, or enticing vape oils could be sold in convenience stores and packies.

I was never a menthol cigarette smoker (I’ve recently ceased all cigarette consumption), but I felt for my Newport and Kool brethren. Something they loved and indulged in had been stripped away without any input from them.

I also remember when Mass lawmakers sought to ban the non-hands-free use of cell phones while driving. In other words, holding the phone up to your ear as you would almost anytime you take a phone call. The law forced anyone without Bluetooth capabilities in their vehicle to purchase a device to comply with the new legislation. Airpods weren’t readily available in the mid-2010’s when the legislation was first introduced.

My last day as a talk show host at WBSM in New Bedford was spent arguing against this proposed law. “How can you regulate somebody’s body movements in their own vehicle,” I questioned.

Of course, though the law went into effect in 2020 it remains largely unenforceable.

I am grateful, however, for one ban Massachusetts continues to uphold: fireworks.

I was actually surprised to learn while writing this that Massachusetts is the only state to completely ban any and all consumer fireworks, including sparklers.

That’s the way it’s been all my life.

Obviously, there are scofflaws that sneak away to Rhode Island for their low-grade ground fireworks, or make the more expensive trek to load up on New Hampshire’s more professional-grade offerings.

But even the smuggling of those fireworks into Massachusetts is enough to cement my stance on Massachusetts’ just ban on the pyrotechnics.

While many of those who travel out of state to purchase their combustible contraband use them in a more or less responsible way, there are the few who don’t and ruin it for everyone else.

Every year at this time, there’s always a news story about a fire started by a stray firework that was lit too close to a heavily-saturated residential neighborhood. I’m talking blocks of three-decker tenement homes as far as the eye can see.

The people lighting these rockets have no idea the dangers posed by launching the fireworks so closely to these homes, or they simply disregard them.

Not only is there little consideration for the danger, there’s little consideration for their neighbors’ sanity.

Fireworks have been going off all week long at all hours of the night near where I live in southeastern Massachusetts. Thankfully, the sound of the air conditioner is almost enough to drown out the late-night booms. I can only imagine what it’s like trying to get some sleep in the third story of one of those tenement homes when fuses are being lit.

Truth be told, it hasn’t been as bad this year when compared to years past. Perhaps we have Joe Biden and the lack of disposable income that his economic policies produced to thank for that. But Trump’s prosperity economy may change that for Independence Day 2026.

Generally speaking, I’m all in favor of the government, state or federal, staying out of my purchasing power. But in this instance, I’m glad the Commonwealth continues to keep a tight leash on the purchase of fireworks. There are too many knuckleheads out there that have little to no respect for the people around them to be trusted with incendiary spectacle-makers.

Have a happy and safe Independence Day.

Now…. Get off my lawn.

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