Bill to legalize fireworks in Iowa advances out of Senate panel

DES MOINES - Iowans moved one step closer Wednesday to getting access to legal consumer fireworks after a Senate panel voted 11-3 to adopt legislation establishing limited holiday periods when the products could be purchased and ignited by adults.

The bill's manager, Sen. Jake Chapman, R-Adel, said senators were passed a 'well-crafted” bill that would enhance Iowans' freedom, but independent Sen. David Johnson of Ocheyedan said it would mean Iowans would be free to 'blow their fingers off” and 'take an eye out” as emergency rooms handled casualties of the legislative decision to legalize fireworks in Iowa.

Senate Study Bill 1051, which moved out of the Senate State Government Committee, would allow licensed retailers in permanent structures or community groups to sell consumer fireworks in permanent structures between June 1 and July 8 and between Dec. 10 and Jan. 3. A similar provision would apply to conforming temporary structures, such as tents, from June 13 through July 8 each year.

The measure includes a fee structure for various licensure levels, allows counties or cities that do not want to legalize the expanded sale and use of fireworks to 'opt out” of the new law, and bars the sale or purchase by anyone under the age of 18, making it a violation punishable by a fine of at least $250. The bill now goes to the Senate Ways and Means Committee because it contains the fee structure.

'I've been contacted by many individuals who are interested in starting some sort of firework shop. I think there's going to be a big influx here at the beginning because people are excited about it,” Chapman told reporters after the meeting. 'We'll see if it will maintain year over year.”

Iowa law currently classifies the possession, sale or use of consumer fireworks without a permit other than sparklers and snakes to be a simple misdemeanor. Chapman said Iowa is among a small number of states that have those strict fireworks restrictions but he added that sales would be barred to minors under age 18.

During Wednesday's committee discussion, Sen. Tony Bisignano, D-Des Moines, said he supported the limited times when fireworks would be sold and exploded so 'we don't have to listen to them year-round,” but he said there were problems with the bill.

Bisignano said he wanted to see buffer zones established in areas near nursing homes, hospitals, schools, churches, hospices and other locations where fireworks would not be ignited. Given that the time periods for legal use included the Christmas season, he express concern that the sound of explosions could disturb midnight mass services.

He also said he did not support temporary fireworks stand and he expected to offer several amendments during the Senate's floor debate to modify the bill's provisions. Another concern raised was there were no penalties for shooting off fireworks while intoxicated or enhanced penalties in cases where minors were hurt by fireworks set off by someone under the influence of alcohol.

Chapman responded to Johnson's claims that majority Republicans will be 'kicking in the doors of emergency rooms around the state” with the fireworks bill, but conceding 'there is an associated risk with fireworks, nobody denies that.” However, he said statistics indicate injuries have gone down substantially, while consumption has gone up, in part because fireworks are as powerful in past years when now-prohibited products like M-80s and cherry bombs were accessible.

'There's been a vast improvement in the safety of these (firework products),” he said. 'To suggest that our ERs are going to be absolutely filled I think is an overstatement of reality.”

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