I have just moved back to VA - and this reminds me of why I left. Fourth of July celebrates our freedom and independence, not our subordination to police rule. I suppose we are simply too stupid to handle things that could harm us; like fireworks and alcohol.

It's not the sparklers.....it's how they are raised. haha

The issue here is personal responsibility. No one wants to accept they made a stupid mistake, so they cry out "Lets make a law to protect people from this", hence you have laws to protect stupid people. To prove my point go to any hardware store, but be VERY CAREFUL, there are sharp things there, and read a ladder. That's right I said READ a LADDER! Look at all of the warning labels that are plastered all along the sides of a ladder. We're not talking about a power saw with a very sharp blade, but a simple ladder. If you can't handle a simple ladder then you shouldn't even think of taking on something as dangerous as cutting up an apple of driving a car. Wise up America, we don't need Government to protect us from our self.

I have seen first hand what diving head-first into a pool can do... ban pools?
I have seen first hand what a rotating saw can do when used improperly... ban saws?
I have seen a lot of people do idiotic things... and then blame someone else. No, I am not someone of the older generation who thinks society has gone to pot. I am a 28 year-old independent who believes that common sense and personal morals need to guide one's actions. Not based on a laundry list of rules concocted by a group who make just as crappy of decisions about everything else. Get a grip people, it's a sparkler.

I grew up around fireworks, in a state where they are legal and we never had the amount of accidents that there are here in VA because we were taught how to handle the fireworks. In VA there is such a fear of fireworks that when children handle them they are not taught, therefore there are accidents. Please people, if you do manage to be around fireworks, teach your children, that is what parents are for.

So ban the children , that is the problem . Children with no clue that were conceived by parents with even less of a clue .

So why are the parents not charged with child endangerment? Letting kids play with fireworks is like letting them play with a loaded weapon. The result is the same...or worse.

Having seen first hand the damage a sparkler can do to a child after they catch fire, yes, they should still be banned. I have worked many celebrations and have seen many, many children burned and have their clothes catch on fire due to sparklers. Parents today don't supervise their children at all and children are not knowledgeable enough about fire to play with it.

Now it's sparklers. How long before they ban childrens' cap pistols. Oh, I forgot - we are now a Banana Republic, so everything goes.