Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Bill

The plans are ridiculous and WILL NOT WORK in the ways intended.
The kind of people who will happy pay for a licence ARE NOT the people being anti-social with fireworks. Those who use fireworks illegally and anti-socially will continue to do so, buying fireworks from England and/or foreign websites where more dangerous, unrestricted fireworks are readily available.

The proposed bill will hurt legitimate firework businesses and retailers who currently supply restricted and safe fireworks and will open the door to unregulated black market sales which will cause MORE anti-social use and MORE accidents.

The ROI introduced a similar scheme many years ago and it has not worked - they record more firework injuries than the whole of the UK despite fireworks being banned. Similarly in Australia and Hawaii where restrictions were introduced, they see more accidents and injuries than before.

The bill is ill-advised and does not take into account real-world data. It will cost the taxpayer millions, will lead to a tiny amount of people buying a license and taking the training while everyone else will just use illegal fireworks .

CAT2/3 fireworks are available in England without a license and can be obtained illegally from overseas. Only law abiding, responsible people will be forced to spend money on a license and the anti-social firework users will just get fireworks from elsewhere. Therefore the licensing system will NOT WORK AS INTENDED and will only penalise firework users who are not a problem.

Those who use fireworks anti-socially will use fireworks all year round anyway. Again these restrictions only penalise law-abiding socially-responsible firework users.

A widening of the allowed periods would be more sensible to stop stockpiling of fireworks or use of fireworks in inclement weather which could be dangerous.

The police should enforce currently laws that will target anti-social and illegal firework use. This would solve almost ALL issues with fireworks as most of the complained-about firework use is already illegal or illegally anti-social.

Why invent new laws while many are getting away with not being arrested when they use fireworks illegally. More laws won't solve the issues - only enforcement of the current laws will.

There is no need for licensing if current laws were properly enforced. This includes cracking down on illegal sales, illegal imports and giving heavy fines for those caught using fireworks in public places.

This is a waste of taxpayer money. The licencing scheme will COST millions because not enough licenses will be sold to warrant the outlay. Firework retailers are experienced people operating within the law and give good advice and safety information at the point of sale. They should be treated as the 'good guys' - not cut out of the equation.

This will cost millions to set up and enforce and it will not work. Those intending to be anti-social with fireworks will use them anyway and if they are not prosecuted for it then it rubbishes this whole intended bill. Once a firework goes off in a FCZ, the culprit will be long gone. Impossible to police, expensive to enforce - it's a ridiculous idea with no evidence that it will work.

Absolutely sensible!
Harsh penalties for those breaching these laws would be welcome.

Better enforcement of current laws would solve almost all issues around firework use without brining in this expensive and untested proposed bill.