PHOENIX (AP) — Citing safety concerns but also reluctance, Gov. Jan Brewer on Monday vetoed a bill to legalize sales and use of sparklers and some other fireworks.
The bill vetoed Monday would have legalized the sale and use of sparklers and fountain fireworks that shoot sparks into the air. It would not have legalized fireworks that explode or shoot themselves into the air.
Brewer’s veto letter said she vetoed the bill “reluctantly” and cited concerns voiced by fire and forest officials.
“I have been a supporter of responsible fireworks usage dating back to the time I served in the Legislature,” Brewer said. “However, I fear the language contained in this specific bill does not sufficiently address the risk of fire on federal, state and county lands.”
Brewer follows the lead of two previous Republican governors — Fife Symington and Jane Hull — who expressed health and safety concerns when they vetoed legalization bills in the 1990s. Brewer, then a state senator, voted for the 1996 bill that Symington vetoed.
The industry didn’t bother pushing the bill when Democrat Janet Napolitano was governor. She left office in January.
Supporters of the industry-backed bill vetoed by Brewer had said the types of fireworks that would be legalized are safe and don’t need government regulation.
Under the bill, people younger than 16 would not have been allowed to buy fireworks, but there would have been no minimum age for using them.
The League of Arizona Cities and Towns took a neutral position on the bill after it was amended to allow municipalities to impose bans or lesser restrictions in their jurisdictions.
Republican Rep. Andy Biggs of Gilbert said during a legislative hearing that his bill is an attempt to try “to poke in the eye those who have the nanny-state mentality.”
The risk from fireworks is smaller than driving or many other activities that people do, Biggs said.
An industry lobbyist, Mike Williams, said many Arizonans now transport fireworks into the state from Mexico or neighboring states and that it could enhance safety for Arizonans to be able to legally buy and use fireworks.
The state in 1941 made it illegal to sell, use or possess fireworks. Exceptions since have been passed for qualified pyrotechnic expert.
Violations are misdemeanors punishable by up 30 days in jail and a fine up to $500.
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Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
If you need any proof that our governor is a complete idiot, here it is. Drunken fools with concealed weapons in public bars are just fine but Nanny-Brewer thinks that sparklers are much to dangerous to possess. You can’t make this stuff up.