By: Sen. Larry Walker (R – Perry)
After the Fourth of July, many people across our state are left with some unused fireworks. It’s pretty common to hear fireworks in the weeks after, to see children playing with sparklers during the summer months, and – in some areas – hear them many times throughout the year. The Fourth is a time of fun and celebration, a reminder of our freedom, but the weeks after beg the question, “how free am I to shoot a firework whenever I like?” This column is dedicated to answering that question and ensuring we’re all up-to-date on our firework usage knowledge.
First and foremost, you should never light fireworks under the influence of drugs or alcohol as it is a misdemeanor offense. Additionally, it is illegal to shoot fireworks within 100 yards of a hospital, nursing home, prison, nuclear power plant, gas station, oil refinery or state park during any time of the year.
According to state law, the usage of fireworks is allowed from 10 a.m. until 11:59 p.m. on any day, as long as no local noise ordinances make the noise produced by fireworks illegal. Last year, we passed a bill that allows the use of fireworks, regardless of any local noise ordinance on the following days: the last Saturday and Sunday in May, Labor Day, July 3rd and 4th, December 31st and January 1st from 10 a.m. until 11:59 p.m. This legislation also allows the use of fireworks on January 1st from 12:00 a.m. until 1 a.m. Your local government noise ordinances will determine what is allowed on any days other than the aforementioned. These ordinances do not specifically ban the use of fireworks, but rather, the noise they create. If a local government is proposing a change to the local noise ordinance, a meeting notice addressing this proposal must be posted for 72 hours on the city or county website and at least 15 days in advance of the meeting. This should give you plenty of time to voice your opinion on the noise ordinance, should this issue arise.
Of all the parameters we’ve discussed above, there is one I want to highlight, and that is the aspect of local control. In general, I believe the fewer mandates from Atlanta, the better. Something I feel is very important to the “small government” ideology that I follow is the use of local ordinances to allow the local governments to best tailor their laws and regulations for their citizens. Your local elected officials know best the environment and community you have, and their judgement is what we defer to in this case and several others. For example, densely populated cities in and around Atlanta have vastly different noise ordinances than places in more rural parts of the state. There’s good reason for that as their local elected officials know that the noise fireworks produce would affect entire neighborhoods of people. Local control works, it’s a principal myself and my colleagues defer to often and one that has proved effective in a state with many different types of lifestyles and regional needs.
If you have any further questions on fireworks, or when and where you can shoot them, please do not hesitate to reach out. If you’re looking for your local noise ordinances, you can contact your local county or city government and ask for local noise ordinances. They should be able to get you any information you need. Thank you again for the opportunity to serve you!
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Sen. Larry Walker serves as Caucus Vice Chairman for the Majority Party. He represents the 20th Senate District, which includes Bleckley, Houston, Laurens and Pulaski counties. He may be reached by phone at (404) 656-0095 or by email at larry.walker@senate.ga.gov