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Despite Attempts From Some Ohio Lawmakers, Backyard Fireworks Are Still Illegal
By: Jo Ingles | Statehouse News Bureau
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (Statehouse News Bureau) — Sales of backyard fireworks are booming, at least partly because the pandemic has canceled public fireworks shows. But it’s still technically illegal to set them off here because a bill has stalled in the Senate.
Ohio law requires people who purchase fireworks here to transport them out of the state within 48 hours. Yet every summer, in nearly every corner of the state, you hear them popping and booming from nearby homes.
Some lawmakers have tried for five years to change the law. A bill recently passed in the House, 78 to 17. That prompted Republican Rep. Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati) to say, “I feel as though we have finally reached the promised land.”
But despite the House’s passage, backyard fireworks remain illegal to use in Ohio. The Senate has not yet to hold hearings on the bill. And if it doesn’t pass by the end of this year, this effort to change the law will, once again, go up in smoke.
More information about Ohio’s laws regardling fireworks can be found here.