Less than a year after they made the use of fireworks legal in Georgia, lawmakers are considering reining in where and when the sparkly combustibles can be used.
State Rep. Paul Battles, R-Cartersville, has filed House Bill 727 to limit the time and place fireworks may be used.
Under current law, created during the 2015 legislative session, Georgians can buy and explode consumer fireworks any day between 10 a.m. and midnight and until 2 a.m. on Jan. 1, July 3, July 4 and Dec. 31.
The only places currently off-limits for fireworks are within 100 yards of a nuclear power plant or gas station.
Battles’ bill would add electric plants, water and wastewater treatment plants, hospitals, nursing homes, other health care facilities, property owned or operated for counties and cities, and at public gatherings “where, in the discretion of a law enforcement agency or local fire department” the use of fireworks “is determined not to be reasonable in the interest of public safety.”
Also, Battles’ bill would make it illegal to drink and explode — that is, no one under the influence of alcohol or drugs may use fireworks.
Many grumbled this past Fourth of July weekend – just days after the new law took effect – when loud, celebratory explosions lasted into the early-morning hours. At least one metro Atlanta man was also seriously injured.
State Rep. Keisha Waites, D-Atlanta, also targeted fireworks in House Bill 72, which she filed ahead of the session.
Her bill would limit the use of fireworks in and near residential areas. In some areas, they couldn’t be set off on big holidays after 10 p.m. The bill also would allow local governments to set new restrictions.
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