Out-of-State Fireworks Sales in Pennsylvania Cause a Stir in New Jersey

The state of Pennsylvania should be ashamed of itself. It won't let it's own residents buy fireworks without a special permit .However they do encourage out of state residents to come and purchase them for the sole purpose of making money not only off of the fireworks but the high state sales tax.

The state of New Jersey is one of nine states that has banned the sale of fireworks. The sale of fireworks is not legal in New Jersey and they wish to keep them out of the state. However, with the sale of fireworks being available in Pennsylvania, residents of New Jersey have been coming over the border and buying them.

Pennsylvania has not seen the need to comply with New Jersey when they asked them to stop the sale of fireworks to out-of-state residents. Along the highways of New Jersey, you will see billboards advertising the sale of fireworks in Pennsylvania. They also send out sale papers from fireworks retailers in Pennsylvania.

The New Jersey state police tried to take matters into their own hands last year and tried to stop the sale of fireworks. On its first day of order the state police gave out 13 citations and confiscated around 600 pounds of fireworks. The state also convinced billboards companies to remove all billboards containing information on where to purchase fireworks.

According to the United States Consumer Safety Commission, there were 9,000 emergency room visits from June to July related to fireworks in the year of 2004. Most of these incidents occurred to children who were not supervised by adults.

A letter to Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell was sent, asking for his help in not letting the state sale fireworks into New Jersey residents. So far they have not heard anything. As it stands the state of Pennsylvania has not stopped the sale of fireworks to out-of-state residents. The state of New Jersey wants the law to be enforced.

If you happen to be in New Jersey and see a billboard advertising the purchase of fireworks and you may want them, think very carefully. Is it worth the trouble to be breaking a law to buy something that can harm you more then anything else? Since there are a lot of fireworks shows around the fourth of July in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania, chances are that you may want to follow the law and go to see someone else's show rather than trying them out for yourself.