Fireworks vs. Firearms

It is the Fourth of July again in America. Unfortunately, most people tend to think of it as "the fireworks holiday" rather than our Independence Day. Those ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it, and our Founding Fathers, who went to war over taxes and government intervention, would be considered a huge improvement over what we have now, but that's a rant for a different blog. In this blog installment I simply want to talk about fireworks.

Maybe your love of firearms is what keeps you from experiencing one of these types of accidents.

I live in Michigan. Prior to 2012, most fireworks weren't legal in Michigan. If it flew or exploded, it couldn't be sold here, so a lot of people on their way back from out-of-state trips (especially to Florida) bought their firecrackers or bottle rockets or roman candles in Kentucky or wherever. That's now changed, due to sane people being elected to our state government. These same people, by the way, have legalized civilian ownership of suppressors and machine guns (assuming you jumped through the appropriate federal hoops), and are working on SBRs. Which sort of leads into my point —

I have absolutely no interest in fireworks.

This lack of interest in fireworks on my part began about the time I became old enough to buy guns. I don't think this is a coincidence. My perspective on this is — Why settle for toys, when you can have the real thing?

That's a question I'm going to throw out to the blog readership — do any of you have an interest in fireworks? It isn't just kids, I see adults everywhere lighting the things off. Heck, only adults can afford them.

My theory is that those of us who own guns and shoot a lot satisfy that "bang and flash" instinct that drives people (especially kids) to fireworks. I have two boys, ages 14 and 10, and they have very little interest in fireworks — but they get to shoot all sorts of stuff. I just did an article for Rifle Shooter Magazine comparing several different pistol caliber carbines, and my boys were happy to send close to five hundred rounds downrange. They shot paper, they shot falling steel, they shot the wooden legs out from under some targets, and they had a blast.

Have either of them asked me to buy any fireworks for the Fourth? Nope. Have either of them expressed any interest in buying any themselves? Nope. Heck, there might be an age requirement for the purchase of certain fireworks in Michigan, but I don't know what it is, because no one in my house has any interest in them.

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So that's the question I pose to the website readership — is it just me, or is the fireworks craving satisfied through firearms?