4th Of July Fireworks Laws: What’s Legal In New Jersey

NEW JERSEY — As plans for 4th of July celebrations ramp up in New Jersey, people looking to set off fireworks might want to brush up on the laws behind the popular holiday activity.

New Jersey is one of the states that allows the sale and use of some types of consumer fireworks, but they must be "non-aerial."

According to the American Pyrotechnics Association, here are some of the laws in New Jersey:

• AGE TO PURCHASE – 16 or older
• PERMITTED – “Wood stick and wire sparklers with no more than 100 grams of pyrotechnic composition; other hand-held or ground-based sparkling devices which are non-explosive and non-aerial, which may produce a crackling or whistling effect, and which contain 75 grams or less of pyrotechnic composition per tube or a total of 500 grams or less for multiple tubes; snakes, glow worms and smoke devices and trick noisemakers, which include party poppers, snappers and drop pops, each consisting of 25/100 grains or less of explosive mixture.”
• PROHIBITED – “All consumer fireworks not specifically permitted including torpedoes, firecrackers, skyrockets, aerial devices and fireworks containing yellow or white phosphorous or mercury.”

Massachusetts is the only state where fireworks are completely banned aside from professional displays, according to a May report from Reader’s Digest. Illinois, Ohio and Vermont have the next-strictest laws in 2021, the report said.

Indiana — which lies between Illinois and Ohio — has among the most lenient fireworks laws.

Kris Zambo, owner of Dynamite Fireworks in Hammond, Indiana, told Patch in 2018 that a law passed in the mid-2000s essentially made fireworks “wide open” in the Hoosier State. His store’s proximity to the Illinois border allowed the family to turn a side business selling fireworks into a permanent store, drawing droves of cars from Illinois.

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“About 80 percent of our customers come from Illinois,” Zambo told Patch.

Dynamite Fireworks is one of many northwest Indiana fireworks stores that beckon Illinois consumers to cross the border with gaudy billboards promising the biggest bang for the buck. The region has gained a reputation as the unofficial fireworks capital of America, with more than 100 consumer-grade fireworks retailers.

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States with stricter fireworks laws have cited data from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission that shows thousands of people are injured in fireworks-related injuries every year, with multiple deaths reported as well. In 2019, about 10,000 fireworks injuries were treated in hospital emergency rooms. Fireworks-related deaths totaled 12 in that year, according to the commission.

The commission has stated fuses on fireworks need to burn somewhere between three seconds and nine seconds to be safe and legal. Legal fireworks can also have no more than 50 milligrams of pyrotechnic composition to be legal, the commission said.

Fireworks celebrations in America date back to 1777, when the first 4th of July celebration occurred. Oddly enough, there were no red, white and blue fireworks to mark the one-year anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Fireworks came in only one color — orange — back then, according to the Smithsonian Institution.

This article contains reporting from the Patch national desk

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