CONNECTICUT — Fireworks have been greatly deregulated since the turn of the century, but Connecticut law limits consumers to sparklers and fountain sales.

Fireworks are not just for Independence Day, either. Many states allow the setting off of fireworks in the days before and after major holidays.

Fireworks are not allowed to be used by non-professionals in Connecticut. Sparklers and fountains, which technically aren’t fireworks, are allowed to be sold to people 16 and older.

The State Fire Marshal issues permits for supervised firework displays.

Despite a loosening of fireworks laws elsewhere, Massachusetts has clung to its decades-long ban on consumer fireworks. A move tried but failed to put fireworks before voters in a referendum on the upcoming midterm elections ballot.

The strictest fireworks laws are in California, according to a map and list of state fireworks laws curated by Reader’s Digest. Ground and handheld sparkling devices, cylindrical and cone fountains, wheel and ground spinners, illuminating torches, and certain flitter sparklers are legal for anyone over 16 from noon June 28 through noon July 6.

Firecrackers, Roman candles, chasers, wire and wooden stick sparklers, and skyrockets are still illegal.

Indiana has some of the most lenient laws. Anyone 18 or older can purchase and use fireworks whenever they want, from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. on non-holidays and later on holidays. All types of fireworks are legal as long as they meet U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission construction and labeling regulations.

Ohio is one of the latest states to ease restrictions on consumer fireworks. Effective July 1, Ohioans will be able to discharge fireworks as long as they do so while sober and in a safe manner.

States with stricter fireworks laws have cited data from the Consumer Product Safety Commission that shows thousands of people are injured in fireworks-related accidents every year, with multiple deaths reported as well.

In 2019 — a normal, pre-pandemic year for fireworks displays — about 10,000 fireworks injuries were treated in hospital emergency rooms. Fireworks-related deaths totaled 12 in that year, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said.

Fireworks have always been part of Independence Day celebrations. After the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail, that Independence Day “ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shews, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more.”

The first Independence Day fireworks display occurred on July 4, 1777. They came in only one color — orange — back then, according to the Smithsonian Institution. Today, they light up the sky with red, white and blue, the color of the U.S. flag, but also across the spectrum of color.

At the turn of the century, about a third of fireworks displays were professional shows, according to Scientific American.

Since then, states have gradually deregulated fireworks, partly to tap lost tax revenue from residents crossing state lines to buy fireworks in states with more-lenient laws, but also because of lax enforcement.

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