{"id":222,"date":"2011-08-27T11:26:51","date_gmt":"2011-08-27T17:26:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.triplespacedagain.com\/wordpress\/?p=222"},"modified":"2011-08-27T11:26:51","modified_gmt":"2011-08-27T17:26:51","slug":"lets-fix-the-fireworks-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.triplespacedagain.com\/wordpress\/?p=222","title":{"rendered":"Let’s fix the fireworks problem"},"content":{"rendered":"

UPDATE TO THIS ARTICLE:\u00a0 Since this article was originally published in member newspapers in July, it was announced that the fireworks issue will be considered during the September 2011 special session.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Were you outraged,around July 4, that there was no statewide ban on the sale of fireworks?<\/p>\n

You\u2019re not alone.\u00a0 So was almost everybody else, including several newspaper editorial writers.\u00a0 Sherry Robinson, my colleague in the New Mexico News Services writers\u2019 group, wrote about recent attempts to change the in New Mexico law and what happened: while several bills in favor of public safety died in committee, the law has been amended more than once in favor of the fireworks industry.<\/p>\n

When the Legislature convenes next January, the memory of the heat, the fires, and the danger will be much more remote than today.<\/p>\n

So I suggest that right now, while the memory of July 4 is still fresh in your mind, is the time to tell your state representative and state senator you want to restore the authority of the governor and local authorities to ban the sale and use of fireworks when public safety demands it.<\/p>\n

You can write a letter, send an e-mail, or make a phone call, politely and respectfully asking for a commitment on this issue.\u00a0 If you want to read the current statute, go to the Legislative Council Service web site at\u00a0 www.nmlegis.gov\/lcs<\/span> and use the Bill Finder:\u00a0 select the 2007 regular session and look up Senate Bill 267.\u00a0 Or find the statute in a statute book at section 60-2C.<\/p>\n

You can also contact your local municipal authorities, including your local fire department, and tell them you support this change.\u00a0\u00a0 You can ask your neighborhood, homeowners or community association to adopt an official position restoring the authority of both state and local officials to ban fireworks when necessary for public safety.<\/p>\n

Make a note in your calendar to send a reminder next December.<\/p>\n

And while we\u2019re making the list, let\u2019s add our members of — and candidates for — Congress, so public officials can have some control over the sale of these products on Indian land.<\/p>\n

A point must be made:\u00a0 the dangerous conditions are not the fault of the fireworks industry.\u00a0\u00a0 In matters of this nature, special interests tend to turn the argument upside down, implying that they are being blamed or scapegoated for conditions they did not cause.\u00a0 So let\u2019s be clear that nobody is blaming them for the drought or the fires.\u00a0 But they sell a hazardous product and they do not control how the purchasers use or misuse that product.\u00a0 The public interest is greater than their right to do business.\u00a0 We can find many other instances where the sale of products is restricted because public safety demands it.<\/p>\n

There is also a liability issue that has not been much discussed.\u00a0 When a drunk driver injures or kills someone, the bartender can be held responsible.\u00a0 It took this state a long time and a bloody history of drunk driving tragedies to change that law.\u00a0 I have not heard of any cases where a fireworks seller has been held financially liable for a fire caused by a product he sold, and I hope it never happens, but I wonder if their insurance covers that possibility.<\/p>\n

My real hope is that most of the fireworks sellers will have lost their shirts on this year\u2019s operation and will decide to go into another line of work.\u00a0 I wish them well.<\/p>\n

Triple Spaced Again, \u00a9 New Mexico News Services 2011<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UPDATE TO THIS ARTICLE:\u00a0 Since this article was originally published in member newspapers in July, it was announced that the fireworks issue will be considered during the September 2011 special session.\u00a0 Were you outraged,around July 4, that there was no … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.triplespacedagain.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.triplespacedagain.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.triplespacedagain.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.triplespacedagain.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.triplespacedagain.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=222"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.triplespacedagain.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":308,"href":"https:\/\/www.triplespacedagain.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222\/revisions\/308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.triplespacedagain.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.triplespacedagain.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.triplespacedagain.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}