Since it's that time of the year...

(425 ILCS 35/) Fireworks Use Act (425 ILCS 35/0.01) (from Ch. 127 1/2, par. 126.9)    Sec. 0.01. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Fireworks Use Act. (Source: P.A. 86‑1324.)    (425 ILCS 35/1) (from Ch. 127 1/2, par. 127)    Sec. 1. The term fireworks shall mean and include any explosive composition, or any substance or combination of substances, or article prepared for the purpose of producing a visible or audible effect of a temporary exhibitional nature by explosion, combustion, deflagration or detonation, and shall include blank cartridges, toy cannons, in which explosives are used, the type of balloons which require fire underneath to propel the same, firecrackers, torpedoes, skyrockets, Roman candles, bombs, or other fireworks of like construction and any fireworks containing any explosive compound, or any tablets or other device containing any explosive substance, or containing combustible substances producing visual effects: provided, however, that the term "fireworks" shall not include snake or glow worm pellets; smoke devices; trick noisemakers known as "party poppers", "booby traps", "snappers", "trick matches", "cigarette loads" and "auto burglar alarms"; sparklers; toy pistols, toy canes, toy guns, or other devices in which paper or plastic caps containing twenty‑five hundredths grains or less of explosive compound are used, providing they are so constructed that the hand cannot come in contact with the cap when in place for the explosion; and toy pistol paper or plastic caps which contain less than twenty hundredths grains of explosive mixture; the sale and use of which shall be permitted at all times. (Source: P.A. 83‑474.)    (425 ILCS 35/2) (from Ch. 127 1/2, par. 128)    Sec. 2. Except as hereinafter provided it shall be unlawful for any person, firm, co‑partnership, or corporation to knowingly possess, offer for sale, expose for sale, sell at retail, or use or explode any fireworks; provided that city councils in cities, the president and board of trustees in villages and incorporated towns, and outside the corporate limits of cities, villages and incorporated towns, the county board, shall have power to adopt reasonable rules and regulations for the granting of permits for supervised public displays of fireworks. Every such display shall be handled by a competent individual who is licensed as a lead pyrotechnic operator. Application for permits shall be made in writing at least 15 days in advance of the date of the display and action shall be taken on such application within 48 hours after such application is made. After such privilege shall have been granted, sales, possession, use and distribution of fireworks for such display shall be lawful for that purpose only. No permit granted hereunder shall be transferable.    Permits may be granted hereunder to any groups of 3 or more adult individuals applying therefor. No permit shall be required, under the provisions of this Act, for supervised public displays by State or County fair associations.    The governing body shall require proof of insurance from the permit applicant in a sum not less than $1,000,000 conditioned on compliance with the provisions of this law and the regulations of the State Fire Marshal adopted hereunder, except that no municipality shall be required to provide evidence of insurance.    Such permit shall be issued only after inspection of the display site by the issuing officer, to determine that such display shall be in full compliance with the rules of the State Fire Marshal, which shall be based upon nationally recognized standards such as those of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1123 guidelines for outdoor displays and NFPA 1126 guidelines for indoor displays and shall not be hazardous to property or endanger any person or persons. Nothing in this Section shall prohibit the issuer of the permit from adopting more stringent rules.    All indoor pyrotechnic displays shall be conducted in buildings protected by automatic sprinkler systems.    The chief of the fire department providing fire protection coverage to the area of display, or his or her designee, shall sign the permit.    Possession by any party holding a certificate of registration under "The Fireworks Regulation Act of Illinois", filed July 20, 1935, or by any employee or agent of such party or by any person transporting fireworks for such party, shall not be a violation, provided such possession is within the scope of business of the fireworks plant registered under that Act. (Source: P.A. 93‑263, eff. 7‑22‑03.)    (425 ILCS 35/3.1) (from Ch. 127 1/2, par. 129.1)    Sec. 3.1. No fireworks shall be discharged, ignited or exploded at any point in the State within 600 feet of any hospital, asylum or infirmary. (Source: P.A. 81‑623.)    (425 ILCS 35/3.2) (from Ch. 127 1/2, par. 129.2)    Sec. 3.2. The use of what are technically known as fireworks showers or any mixture containing potassium chlorate, and sulphur in theatres or public halls is hereby prohibited. (Source: P.A. 81‑623.)    (425 ILCS 35/3.3) (from Ch. 127 1/2, par. 129.3)    Sec. 3.3. Nothing in these regulations shall be construed as prohibiting the manufacture, storage or use of signals or fuses necessary for the safe operation of railroads, trucks, aircraft, or other instrumentalities of transportation. (Source: P.A. 81‑623.)    (425 ILCS 35/3.4)    Sec. 3.4. Sale and use prohibited on public property. A municipality may, by ordinance, prohibit the sale and use of sparklers on public property. (Source: P.A. 92‑93, eff. 1‑1‑02.)

Here's the fun part: simply viewing fireworks being launched from your back yard provides probable cause for a judge to sign a search warrant for your entire property:

(425 ILCS 35/4) (from Ch. 127 1/2, par. 130)    Sec. 4. Whenever any officer or employee of the Office of the State Fire Marshal or the Department of State Police, a Sheriff, a Deputy Sheriff, or a member of any city council or board of trustees of any village or incorporated town or county board has reason to believe that any violation of this Act has occurred within the jurisdiction within which such official is authorized to act and that the person so violating the Act has in his possession fireworks or combustibles, such official may file a complaint in writing, verified by affidavit, with any circuit court within whose jurisdiction the premises to be searched are situated, stating the facts upon which such belief is founded, the premises to be searched, and the property to be seized, and procure a search warrant and execute the same. Upon the execution of such search warrant, the person executing the same shall make due return thereof to the court issuing the same, together with an inventory of the property taken thereunder. The court shall thereupon issue process against the owner of such property if he be known, otherwise against the party in whose possession the property so taken was found, if known. In case of inability to serve such process upon the owner or the person in possession of the property at the time of its seizure, as hereinbefore provided, notice of the proceedings before the court shall be given as required by the statutes of the State governing cases of attachment. Upon the return of the process duly served or upon the posting or publishing of notice made, as hereinabove provided, the court or jury, if a jury shall be demanded, shall proceed to determine whether or not such property so seized was held or possessed in violation of this Act. In case of a finding that the fireworks or combustibles seized were possessed in violation of this Act, judgment shall be entered confiscating and forfeiting the property and ordering its destruction. (Source: P.A. 91‑357, eff. 7‑29‑99.)    (425 ILCS 35/4.1) (from Ch. 127 1/2, par. 130.1)    Sec. 4.1. The State Fire Marshal may adopt necessary rules and regulations for the administration of this Act. (Source: P.A. 81‑623.)    (425 ILCS 35/5) (from Ch. 127 1/2, par. 131)    Sec. 5. (a) Any person, firm, co‑partnership, or corporation violating the provisions of this Act, except as provided in subsection b, shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor.   (b) The possession, offering for sale, exposing for sale, or selling at retail of fireworks in violation of this Act is:        (1) a petty offense if involving up to 1 pound of fireworks, exclusive of external packaging; or        (2) a Class B misdemeanor if involving an amount greater than 1 pound but up to 3 pounds of fireworks, exclusive of external packaging; or        (3) a Class A misdemeanor if involving an amount greater than 3 pounds of fireworks, exclusive of external packaging.    "External packaging", for purposes of this subsection, shall mean any materials which are not an integral part of the operative unit of fireworks. (Source: P.A. 82‑620.)

Ban fireworks...do it for the children.

Seriously.  I knew a girl that got hurt by fireworks.

They tend to keep you up at night.  

Quoted: Ban fireworks...do it for the children. Seriously.  I knew a girl that got hurt by fireworks. They tend to keep you up at night.

They already are.

Quoted: Quoted: Ban fireworks...do it for the children. Seriously.  I knew a girl that got hurt by fireworks. They tend to keep you up at night.   They already are.

What I meant was that they need to keep stricter watches on the people that bring stuff over from IN.  

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Ban fireworks...do it for the children. Seriously.  I knew a girl that got hurt by fireworks. They tend to keep you up at night.   They already are. What I meant was that they need to keep stricter watches on the people that bring stuff over from IN.

So, how's that post count going?  

Quoted: Quoted: Ban fireworks...do it for the children. Seriously.  I knew a girl that got hurt by fireworks. They tend to keep you up at night.   Once again, Our state motto should read: If it's fun, It's illegal in Illinois. I know a few people that were hurt with guns, should we ban those too? As with anything, is you follow proper safety, nothing bad will happen.  Unfortunately, the number of people that aren't safe, get more news time than those that are. ETA: this has been linked in the Important Info thread up top, so that it can be referenced anytime.  Thanks for the info NPD233.

No-but...never mind.  

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Ban fireworks...do it for the children. Seriously.  I knew a girl that got hurt by fireworks. They tend to keep you up at night.   They already are. What I meant was that they need to keep stricter watches on the people that bring stuff over from IN.

Who's side are you on, here?

If people are dumb enough to get hurt when f*cking around with fireworks, they should know it comes with the territory.

I don't know anyone that has been hurt when playing with fireworks personally (other than myself getting some minor burns from fuses, but that was my own fault) but I know quite a few people who have been hurt by a car.........BAN CARS!!!

They probably kill more people than anything else anyway



I hate laws that are intended to protect us from ourselves

WIZZO

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Ban fireworks...do it for the children. Seriously.  I knew a girl that got hurt by fireworks. They tend to keep you up at night.   They already are. What I meant was that they need to keep stricter watches on the people that bring stuff over from IN.   Who's side are you on, here? If people are dumb enough to get hurt when f*cking around with fireworks, they should know it comes with the territory. I don't know anyone that has been hurt when playing with fireworks personally (other than myself getting some minor burns from fuses, but that was my own fault) but I know quite a few people who have been hurt by a car.........BAN CARS!!! They probably kill more people than anything else anyway I hate laws that are intended to protect us from ourselves WIZZO

Okay...don't ban them.

If people are going to be dumbasses about it...then oh well.  

While I don't necessarily personally agree that the state needed to ban them, there ARE places they just simply aren't safe to set off, such as in densely populated areas. It would probably make more sense for them to only be restricted by local ordinances rather than state law, but since the law's been in effect since 1941, I doubt anything will be changing soon.

As for thinking the police are going to chase after fireworks users with the same zeal some think we chase donuts, remember that repeat complaints are usually the only thing likely to result in charges. Or, being stupid with them in the first place, such as driving down a main drag in town and launching bottle rockets at a crowd WILL get the attention of the police, and we'll have our microscope with us.

Current practice with many police departments I know, is simply to be the "bad guy" and warn those caught using fireworks to stop. No mass confiscation, no tickets, just a warning. Usually those who end up getting warned are those who've got a nice collection of contraband from across the state lines and spend quite a bit of time launching them, since from the time someone calls in about it to when we get on scene may be an extended period of time depending on call volume and priority.

About ten years ago I shot myself in the thumb with a Paslode framing nailer (don't ask) so I'd like to see framing nailers and carpentry banned. Oh and once when I was a kid I dumped my bmx bike and broke my nose on a milk crate so I would like bicycles, milk, milk crates and childhood banned as well.

Quoted: While I don't necessarily personally agree that the state needed to ban them, there ARE places they just simply aren't safe to set off, such as in densely populated areas. It would probably make more sense for them to only be restricted by local ordinances rather than state law, but since the law's been in effect since 1941, I doubt anything will be changing soon. As for thinking the police are going to chase after fireworks users with the same zeal some think we chase donuts, remember that repeat complaints are usually the only thing likely to result in charges. Or, being stupid with them in the first place, such as driving down a main drag in town and launching bottle rockets at a crowd WILL get the attention of the police, and we'll have our microscope with us. Current practice with many police departments I know, is simply to be the "bad guy" and warn those caught using fireworks to stop. No mass confiscation, no tickets, just a warning. Usually those who end up getting warned are those who've got a nice collection of contraband from across the state lines and spend quite a bit of time launching them, since from the time someone calls in about it to when we get on scene may be an extended period of time depending on call volume and priority.

So you are saying that cops don't like to arrest kids for fireweorks? Kinda reminds me of the old bumper sticker that reads "We're from the government, we're here to help."

Quoted: About ten years ago I shot myself in the thumb with a Paslode framing nailer (don't ask) so I'd like to see framing nailers and carpentry banned. Oh and once when I was a kid I dumped my bmx bike and broke my nose on a milk crate so I would like bicycles, milk, milk crates and childhood banned as well.

Childhood sucks






WIZZO

You know, it's when topics like this come up that you can tell just who really believes in a little bit of liberty and who doesn't.   If you want to talk about setting these things off in "densely populated" areas, I grew up in Armour Square, which is about 7 minutes from downtown Chicago.  Every year on 4th of July we lit off whatever we wanted with NO po-po harassment.  At night you would have been hard pressed to find a better display between everything that the entire neighborhood was lighting up.  It was this way for over 20+ years and I'm guessing it still is.

Bottom line: nobody got killed, life went on.  Anybody who wants to justify taking a prohibitionist stance on things that aren't anybody else's business can and so be it.  But then again, celebrating the 4th of July probably isn't for them anyway.  And the first person who spews that bullshit line about "our nations birthday" needs to be slapped.

Quoted: You know, it's when topics like this come up (you mean topics like "what the law is"? I didn't post this to argue or discuss it, or I would have indicated so.) that you can tell just who really believes in a little bit of liberty and who doesn't.   If you want to talk about setting these things off in "densely populated" areas, I grew up in Armour Square, which is about 7 minutes from downtown Chicago.  Every year on 4th of July we lit off whatever we wanted with NO po-po harassment.  At night you would have been hard pressed to find a better display between everything that the entire neighborhood was lighting up.  It was this way for over 20+ years and I'm guessing it still is. Bottom line: nobody got killed, life went on.  Anybody who wants to justify taking a prohibitionist stance on things that aren't anybody else's business can and so be it.  But then again, celebrating the 4th of July probably isn't for them anyway.  And the first person who spews that bullshit line about "our nations birthday" needs to be slapped.

Do you accuse everyone who tells you what the law is of being prohibitionist and/or not being in favor of liberty? Did you actually READ my whole follow up post? Is that why you're posting this? You need to re-read what I wrote cause you sure as hell didn't understand it.

Suffice to say you know as well as I where it would be safe and where it wouldn't be safe to light fireworks off. And, if you're trying to say you can light them off anywhere and be safe, that's exactly the kind of thinking that makes it necessary for this law. You think they're some toy. If you think that just cause members of this board are all gun nuts that they're exempt from stupidity, read the first post in this thread. I've seen some pretty stupid things done with fireworks. This thread wasn't started to argue the effectiveness the law but simply to inform because someone (FROM ILLINOIS) asked about it. Looks like it's turned into a discussion. Well, if you want to argue about the law go right ahead.

You show up to troll these threads here in the IL HTF. I don't know if you do it in GA or not, but you seem to think that if you don't agree with a law, that it is unjust. Or am I reading this quote wrong?

Originally Posted By Muddy: An unjust law is no law at all.  Draw your own conclusions from that.

Yeah, I know you grew up here. Some of the recent posts you put up here in IL HTF that I've seen have a negative or insulting connotation. I'm sure you're a nice guy, I am willing to give people the benefit of the doubt. If you want to argue politics or personal beliefs, START A NEW THREAD and quit shitting in this one.

ETA: Link

Look dude, I'm not going to get in a board purse fight with you but it just seems like everytime something comes up concerning IL laws you're always here reminding us to obey or advocating some strict interpretation that favors gov.org, regardless of how stupid or unjust it is.  And if you want to talk about thread hijacking it was you that hijacked a Blastfest thread to turn it into an argument about the legality of licensed dealers and manufacturers to shoot mg's in IL and the previous poster in this thread that commented about the fireworks nonsense being a good law.

This isn't about picking fights, it's just about getting people on the same page.  If the people on this board can't agree that we need to start getting gov.org out of our lives then the cause is truly lost.  Case in point, the ISRA debacle in the Knox thread.  Prime example of people not being on the same page coupled with a bunch of know-it-alls claiming to speak for us getting us one step closer to California-style gun control where all private transfers must go through a dealer.