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Ohio Lawmakers Push for More Changes to Rules on Home Fireworks

Photo of fireworks for sale
KAREN KASLER
/
STATEHOUSE NEWS BUREAU
The bill is supported by the fireworks industry.

This Independence Day, many fireworks retailers in Ohio have abandoned the form that buyers had been required to sign saying they’d take their purchases out of state to set them off. The sponsor of a bipartisan fireworks bill hopes for a lot of changes by next year.

The bill would allow common consumer fireworks bought at specialty stores to be used in Ohio, which the sponsors say is what’s happening anyway, even with what was called the liar’s law form. But Democratic Rep. Martin Sweeney says potentially a bigger change is that local communities would be allowed to set their own rules.

“Right now, the law makes no sense, and there’s chaos throughout the entire state in regards to the deployment of fireworks,” he said.

Fire officials say that would create a patchwork of regulations – and a coalition of medical groups is opposed to the bill as well.

The bill is supported by the fireworks industry, and includes a two year moratorium on new fireworks wholesalers and retailers.  It passed the House by a big margin, and Sweeney hopes it’ll be voted on by the Senate after the election.

Karen is a lifelong Ohioan who has served as news director at WCBE-FM, assignment editor/overnight anchor at WBNS-TV, and afternoon drive anchor/assignment editor in WTAM-AM in Cleveland. In addition to her daily reporting for Ohio’s public radio stations, she’s reported for NPR, the BBC, ABC Radio News and other news outlets. She hosts and produces the Statehouse News Bureau’s weekly TV show “The State of Ohio”, which airs on PBS stations statewide. She’s also a frequent guest on WOSU TV’s “Columbus on the Record”, a regular panelist on “The Sound of Ideas” on ideastream in Cleveland, appeared on the inaugural edition of “Face the State” on WBNS-TV and occasionally reports for “PBS Newshour”. She’s often called to moderate debates, including the Columbus Metropolitan Club’s Issue 3/legal marijuana debate and its pre-primary mayoral debate, and the City Club of Cleveland’s US Senate debate in 2012.