By Rohan Andresen ’12
THE ROUNDUP

Fireworks are one of the most iconic displays of frivolity and celebration and are a necessity at any patriotic festivity for the United States.

Americans blissfully imagine bright blasts of blues and burgundies in the sky as the Star Spangled Banner bellows, “… O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.”

Fireworks are magnificent and displayed at everything from a touchdown at a college football game to the political parties; however, the repercussions that they bring are too deleterious to take the matter lightly.

As the New Year was celebrated, the people of Arizona discovered that many of these recreational fireworks were now legal.

These small fireworks, sparklers and other “consumer-grade” items, have been illegal to buy or sell in Arizona until this year, exactly in time the New Year’s festivities.

Anyone 16 years of age or older can purchase these fireworks for low prices at tents or booths in the parking lots of many supermarkets and department stores.

Fireworks were even for sale inside some stores, giving grocery shoppers a chance to pick up some low-grade explosives with their gallon of lactose-free milk.

The cheapness and availability of fireworks poses a potential problem for celebrations among the more improvident of teens and young adults.

Holidays such as New Year’s are commonly associated with gratuitous merriment mixed with superfluous amounts of celebratory drinking.

When one stirs together inebriation, celebration and fiery demonstration: it is a recipe for disaster.

Fireworks have long been a cause for injury ranging from burns and the loss of limbs to fatalities.

When a group of teens or young adults who do not have a fully developed understanding begin lighting sparklers or tossing fiery explosions around, injury is inevitable.

Fireworks are beautiful and should used to celebrate festivities; however, they shouldn’t be sold for widespread consumption and recreational usage among people who haven’t any training in the field.