Fireworks rules no problem for vendors

There's still plenty of fireworks to shoot off in Cape Girardeau and Jackson even though vendors no longer can sell bottle rockets.

The Cape Girardeau City Council and Jackson Board of Aldermen enacted new fireworks laws last year that shortened fireworks sales by a week and banned the discharge of bottle rockets in both cities.

Cape Girardeau has banned the sale and discharge of bottle rockets since 2001, but Jackson just added the ban last year when the two cities both approved a whole series of new fireworks restrictions.

Vendors began selling fireworks Monday in both cities. Retail vendors can sell fireworks for eight days ending on the Fourth of July.

The regulations prohibit anyone younger than 17 from buying fireworks or setting off fireworks without parental supervision.

This is the second year for the new fireworks restrictions, which also include limits on when fireworks can be discharged.

Cape Girardeau and Jackson allow fireworks to be shot off from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. through Sunday, and from 10 a.m. to midnight on the Fourth of July.

Scott City has different regulations. Fireworks can be discharged only between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. through Sunday, and from 8 a.m. to midnight on July 4.

Local fireworks vendors said they have no complaints with the fireworks regulations. They said there was no shortage of customers last year and they expect plenty of business again this year.

Andrea Sachse of Cape Girardeau manages the Hoffman's Family Fireworks stand in the Town Plaza Shopping Center in Cape Girardeau.

Sachse likes the fireworks regulations. She said it's easier to wait on customers when they don't have unsupervised children wandering around.

"It is so much easier and so much safer," she said. In addition, there's less worry about shoplifting, she said.

"We don't have kids coming into the tent and browsing several times a day," Sachse said.

She likes restrictions on the age of those discharging fireworks. Used improperly, fireworks can be a dangerous weapon, Sachse said.

"Parents need to supervise their kids in shooting fireworks," she said. "We don't want kids getting hurt while they are having fun."

Cape Girardeau police handled 150 fireworks complaints last Fourth of July holiday season. Most were for shooting off fireworks beyond the allowed hours, said patrolman Jason Selzer.

The number of complaints was up slightly. But many of the bottle-rocket wars that once plagued neighborhoods have disappeared because of the regulations, he said.

Jackson police Capt. Robert Hull estimated his department has received fewer fireworks complaints since the city imposed new restrictions last year.

"I think it has had a pretty positive impact," he said.

Vendors like Sachse say customers still ask for bottle rockets. Some are disappointed that local stands no longer sell them.

Bottle rockets used to be big sellers before they were outlawed locally, said Amos Pridemore of Cape Girardeau, who helps run the Patriot Fireworks stand on Kingshighway. But he said there's no shortage of other fireworks that can be sold -- everything from firecrackers to aerial displays, some of them costing hundreds of dollars.

One item shoots out flaming balls of explosives. "It sounds like a cannon when it goes off," he said.

There are packaged assortments of fireworks, including one mammoth box of explosive items costing more than $300. Pridemore said he'll have no trouble selling it and several more like it.

Some retail fireworks contain as much as 500 grams of gunpowder, he said.

The restrictions in Cape Girardeau and Jackson haven't cut down on sales of fireworks, Pridemore said. They have just bunched the sales into a shorter time frame.

Steven Williams of Cape Girardeau spent part of Monday shopping for fireworks. "I like to blast stuff," he said.

Williams said he can live with the restrictions but hopes the local communities won't totally bar residents from shooting off fireworks as is now the case in St. Louis.

Williams said fireworks have been an Independence Day tradition for his family. "We've always shot fireworks," he said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123

Cape Girardeau and Jackson prohibit:

* Discharging fireworks except between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. from June 27 through July 3, and except from 10 a.m. to midnight on July 4.

* Sale and discharge of bottle rockets and any other fireworks attached to a rigid stick of wood, plastic or other material.

* Discharge of fireworks within 300 feet of any fireworks stand.

* Sale or discharge of fireworks within 600 feet of a hospital.

* Sale of fireworks within 600 feet of any church or school.

* Sale or discharge of fireworks on any church or school property without written permission.

* Igniting or discharging of fireworks within a motor vehicle or throwing fireworks from a motor vehicle or at a vehicle.

* Discharging fireworks at or near any person, or from the roof of a building or inside a building.

* Discharging fireworks at or onto another person's property without permission.

* Sale of fireworks to anyone under 17 years of age.

* Discharge or possession of fireworks by anyone under 17 years of age unless under the direct supervision of a parent or guardian.