I love a good fireworks show. The bigger the better. I’ve been known to set off a few firecrackers in my day too. But I was never allowed to “play” with fireworks as a child. As I grew up, Dad supervised and taught safety in all things that go bang, including both fireworks and firearms.

Fireworks can be dangerous. Consider this statement from Stop Fireworks.org

Each year in the U.S. 13,000 people are treated in emergency rooms because of severe injuries from malfunction or careless use of fireworks. Seven of every 100 people injured from fireworks require hospitalization. Over 40% of those injured from fireworks are children ages 0-14. Males are injured three times as frequently as females. The most frequently injured body sites are the hands and fingers (38%) and the eyes (19%). About half the injuries are burns. Also, fireworks can be life-threatening when they cause a house fire. According to the National Fire Protection Association, fireworks result in more than $41 million in direct property damage annually. Studies suggest that state laws concerning the sale and use of fireworks are related to the number of injuries incurred. For example, in one state in which the sale of fireworks was legalized, the number of injuries seen in emergency departments more than doubled. Injuries occur around holidays associated with fireworks celebrations, especially Independence Day and New Year's Eve. Two-thirds of all fireworks injuries occur July.

Some further checking revealed something pro-gun people are used to. Groups that want to ban our product of interest, repeat some true facts, but can’t resist trumping things up a bit to make their case. For the rest of the story we will only use statistics from the Center for Disease Control.

Click on 'Read More' for a firearms vs. fireworks injury comparison.