7/27/2005 01:14:00 PM|||Nathan Moore|||

There is an effort afoot to repeal the fireworks ban in Metropolitan Nashville / Davidson County. It's seldom that one sees a governmental body work to repeal a senseless law - I express my support.

The chairman of the council’s Public Safety Committee said he thinks the bill would pass easily, but the Metro fire marshal says he will oppose the measure.

“I think that’s a mistake,” Danny Hunt said. “I think even though it’s an extremely hard law to enforce as far as the use is concerned, that law in itself has probably saved a lot of injuries.”

The contention by opponents of the repeal state, without evidence, that the law probably saved lives, even though it was never enforced. Utter silliness. The laws we have against murder, theft and robbery work for the very reason that they are enforced. There are already laws against shooting off fireworks and injuring people in Tennessee anyway, that would be enforced - reckless endangerment, and depending on the circumstances, aggravated assault, an E and C felony respectively.

If I may venture an opinion as to the purpose of the fireworks ban, without taking the time to venture into the all-too-enthralling archives of the metro council for some legislative history, the true concern is the effect of irresponsible shooting of the fireworks, not the shooting itself. We have laws on the book for that - repeal the silly ban.

|||112248846531662017|||Makes Sense to Me