Once again, lawmakers are hoping to crack down on illegal fireworks with several bills allowing greater enforcement of fireworks penalties.
Unlike last year, which featured a bill that would have created a near-total ban on the use of fireworks by ordinary consumers, the only surviving fireworks-related bills in the state Legislature this year are focused on increasing penalties for the use of illegal fireworks, and allowing police to track illegal fireworks more effectively.
The most conventional of the two surviving bills is a House bill that would increase the amount of fines levied against fireworks violators. Rep. Richard Creagan of Kailua-Kona, who co-introduced the bill, said the higher fines will bring the possible penalties for violators into “serious money” territory, which might act as a deterrent.
The measure, House Bill 2737, increases the fine for certain violations from $2,000 to $5,000 per violation and would clarify that each individual firework with a total weight of 25 pounds or less is a separate offence.
“There are a lot of people upset with the bill,” Creagan said. “But neighbors usually don’t want to have anyone arrested; the police only get called if there’s a fire or if someone gets hurt. So the fines won’t be relevant unless there’s an accident.”
Creagan, who also introduced the attempted 2019 fireworks ban, said he believes fireworks are too dangerous to be as widely used as they are, and that lawmakers should attempt to curb their usage while acknowledging their popularity during holidays.
Sen. Russell Ruderman of Puna agreed, and has co-authored a bill in the Senate that would grant police departments new technologies to allow them to track the use of fireworks more accurately.
Senate Bill 2406 would allocate money for police departments to purchase devices that would allow them to instantly detect and trace the origin of an explosion. This would allow them to respond to illegal fireworks more quickly, as well as gunshots.
“I have a concern about these big containers of explosives that end up on our island,” Ruderman said. “People act like it’s just how things are done around here, but that seems like a big national security concern.”
All other fireworks-related bills in the 2020 legislative session have stalled, although none were as dramatic as last year’s attempted ban.
“Personally, I’ve sort of given up on fireworks bans,” Ruderman said. “I wish we could do something about them, and I think we could do something if there was the will to do so. But I don’t think there is.”
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.