THROUGH ALL THIS UNNECESSARY & WASTEFUL LEGISLATION, FLORIDA HAS FORGOTTEN WHAT FIREWORKS DO TO WAR VETERANS, ESPECIALLY ON MEMORIAL DAY!!
Florida House, .............Please Rescind / withdraw any such legislation that includes Fireworks on Memorial day!! ( Senate Bill 140 & House Bill 65,)
Florida Governor,.......VETO any such Legislation that includes Memorial Day.
FLORIDA Senate,.....Please Rescind / withdraw any such legislation that includes Fireworks on Memorial day!! ( Senate Bill 140 & House Bill 65,).
***Any Citizens receiving this E-mail....Please,....Write in to the Governor and legislators, and DEMAND they remove Memorial Day from their Misguided "Fireworks" Legislative proposals. Memorial Day is a Day of Mourning, a Day to show Respect, and Honor those who Sacrificed for US.....NOT a Day for Fireworks!!
....What in God's name are People thinking about, when they decide to consider or "Allow" Fireworks on Memorial day?....Let me put it in terms that you may understand, Florida Legislators!!!......Let me know when you are going to the Cemetery to pay Respect to your Deceased Family or Friends, just so I can light-up some Fireworks all around the Cemetery, and "Celebrate" with you!!.....Has Common Sense, Common Courtesy, & Common Decency, escaped your Pathways of Reasoning??......In many ways (already), Memorial Day has become an Insult, a Lack of proper Respect, and nothing less then a performance in Greed, that disregards the Feelings of War Veterans,Their Dead Comrades, and their Mourning families.....Isn't it Bad enough that the Commercial Industries in this State and Country, want to "SELL" us Mattresses, Cars, Flooring, and a variety of other products,....on a Day-of-Mourning....ALL under the Disgusting Premise of it being a "Memorial Day Sale"!!.....The Media "Giggles" and tells us every year that this is the First Weekend (Memorial Day),where our Summer begins, as they promote Places to go, and things to see,...ALL on a day that we should STOP our "Sodom & Gomorrah" pursuits for at least this (1) One-precious-day. Can this State just STOP for one day,and think of our Lost-Ones, show Compassion for their Tearful Families, and (maybe) Hug-a-Veteran?? Have we NO Shame,& No regard for the Sacrifice made by Millions of American who decided you were ALL worth protecting??..... The Insults created by our Fellow-American's Profiteering and conducting their self-indulgence activities, is Bad enough, but now you want to embolden People to light Fireworks, when Thousands are trying to PRAY for their Loved-ones, as they wish that you would at least understand their Pain..........JUST-ONE-DAY,Florida,...just one day a year we ask for some Respect. Can we put our Greed and self-serving ways on the Shelf, and step outside and talk to one another?? Get to know who the Veterans are in your Community, and talk to Families who are not as Fortunate as yourself, and they will never see their Daughter or Son, or Father or Mother,.....Again???.......Wouldn't it be special if they knew someone else Cared,...even for just a Day??
.......Consider these estimated facts;....in the 20th Century alone, there are at least 650,000+ American military deaths, due to War.
Fiscal 2017 demographic information from the VA’s Veteran Population Projection Model 2016.
Firefighters and cities have some concerns, however.
Published Nov. 5, 2019
Florida’s ban on fireworks is widely considered to be absurd.
In order to buy fireworks in the Sunshine State — real fireworks that explode or shoot into the sky — you have to sign a form declaring you’ll use them to illuminate railroads or scare away birds.
Naturally, most Floridians who sign the form don’t use them for that. And each year, fireworks injure or kill Floridians or start fires that burn down their homes.
Now, state lawmakers are considering lifting the state’s 78-year-old ban, but for a few days only: Memorial Day, July 4, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.
On Monday, a Senate committee unanimously approved Senate Bill 140, sponsored by Sen. Travis Hutson, R-Elkton. A similar bill, House Bill 65, is being heard Wednesday. If they pass, the bills wouldn’t become reality until next year, when the Legislature meets for its next Legislative session.
“I don’t think an additional amount of fireworks are going to be set off because of this,” Hutson said. “I think people are already doing it, so I’m just trying to make people not perjure themselves when they’re having a good time.”
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But both firefighters and local governments have concerns.
Darrel Donatto, fire chief for the Town of Palm Beach and president of the Florida Fire Chiefs’ Association, is against expanding the use of fireworks, fearing they will lead to even more injuries, deaths and fires.
“We feel we have a duty to protect the public to the greatest extent we can,” Donatto said. “We don’t think that fireworks, when not used by people who are qualified, or not used properly, are safe.”
Cities also fear that they won’t be able to enforce their own fireworks restrictions, which could lead to people shooting off fireworks near eagles’ nests or in city parks.
“Their concerns are, ‘It’s open season, baby,’” said Casey Cook, a lobbyist for the Florida League of Cities.
Hutson said that his bill will be amended to clarify that local governments can still ban fireworks.
The state’s fire marshal, who is also Florida’s Chief Financial Officer, Jimmy Patronis, doesn’t yet have an opinion on the bills, spokesman Devin Galetta said. But Galetta noted that one of Patronis’ family members lost their home to a fire caused by fireworks.
“As the office takes a deep dive into this bill, we will work to ensure the safety of all Floridians,” spokesman Devin Galetta said in an email.
What everyone seems to agree on is that the state’s ban, as it’s currently enforced, is silly.
Fireworks have been illegal in the state since 1941. Only products that don’t explode or shoot in the air, such as sparklers and noisemakers, are legal.
RELATED STORY: Firework that killed Tampa teen illegal but available
But you can still buy firecrackers, bottle rockets and honest-to-goodness fireworks at roadside stands and other places around the state. You just have to sign a form declaring — under penalty of perjury — that you’ll use them under a few exemptions spelled out in state law.
Those exemptions include for “solely and exclusively in frightening birds from agricultural works and fish hatcheries” and “by railroads or transportation agencies for signal purposes or illumination.”
The law hasn’t stopped Floridians from being hurt or killed each year, or for starting nearly 300 fires in the last two years, causing nearly $800,000 in damage, according to Patronis’ office.
On July 4 this year, two Broward County men died in separate incidents, and a Pompano Beach teen lost five fingers when a Roman candle exploded in his hand, according to the South Florida
A year earlier, a 16-year-old Tampa boy was killed when a mortar-style firework exploded in his hand.
Then there’s the risk of sparking a wildfire, a risk made apparent by the wildfires sweeping California each year. Nearly half of Florida is forested, and fireworks cause 16,900 outdoor and other fires, according to the National Fire Protection Association, a nonprofit dedicated to eliminating deaths and damage from fires.
“This is one of those loopholes that’s been open for far too long,” said Rep. Rep. Ana Maria Rodriguez, R-Miami, who is sponsoring the House bill. “Why not close this loophole and make it legal?”
She said that clarifying the law and making fireworks legal on just a few days per year would make clear that fireworks are illegal the rest of the year.
“I think it’ll have the counter affect, because it’ll essentially put people on notice that you can’t use these devices on days that aren’t authorized,” Rodriguez said.
Rep. Alex Andrade, R-Pensacola, has filed another bill, House Bill 6015, that would repeal the ban on fireworks outright.
But Andrade acknowledged that his bill is so extreme that it’s “irresponsible," and he doesn’t expect it to pass. Instead, he said he filed it just to generate a conversation about the absurdity of the state’s current laws.
“I sincerely doubt the vast majority of Floridians are buying fireworks for agricultural purposes or for water fowl,” Andrade said. “We’re putting Floridians in an untenable position, and kind of forcing Floridans to lie in the process.”
