June 12, 2006
Summer Means...Firecrackers
Starting this week, the District's school-children and their teachers will take an extended break from each other. And just as much as we fondly remember that joyous feeling of not having to face a day of schooling for two full months, we now dread that very prospect. Why? Kids out late on weeknights spell trouble.
Beyond the usual trouble that no school and warm weather tends to breed, In Shaw brings us news of something we suffered all too often last year -- firecrackers. They write:
'Tis the season for firecrackers. During this time you can try to train your ear to tell the difference between gunfire and firecrackers. Or you can be like me and say they are all firecrackers. Luckily (knocking on wood products) I haven't seen a lot of firework stands. Yet.Well, while some fireworks are fair game, firecrackers are illegal in the District. That's not to say that the kids don't get their hands on them, of course. And we feel your pain, In Shaw. In parts of town where gun-related violence occurs, firecrackers can be an unnerving summer distraction. This DCist lives on the eastern fringe of Capitol Hill, where trying to distinguish between periodic gun-fire and firecracker explosions can make for many a sleepless nights. We've learned that police sirens are usually the best indicator of whether those nightly pops are kids having fun or perps shooting at each other or innocent bystanders.
The firecracker noise will continue from now till about mid August. I don't remember what the rules are regarding the District and firecrackers.
It's right about this time that we start looking forward to August.
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So- fireworks like sparklers and fountains are legal, but things that go boom are not. Okay.
It's hardest to distinguish fircrackers from gunshots when the firecrackers are lit off one by one. Then they sound like someone is carefully squeezing a trigger, which happens a lot. When you hear a whole bunch of explosions, not in sequence but on top of eachother, chances are these are fireworks. Or, they could be the sound of two or more guns... As Linda would say, DC is Hot Hot Hot.
well, gunshots kinda have more of a loud CRACK! noise to them. fireworks sound like more of a pop. but that depends on distance to them-- which hopefully isn't too close. and that depends on the type of gun and firework, as well as your ear. so, basically, it's hard to tell.
i was going to write out more ways to distinguish between the two but the comment started looking more and more like an old episode of Batman. KAPOW! BOOM! BAM!
i *loathe* these firework stands. I live in ward 7 and i get enough shit thrown at me when i'm driving to and fro work (mostly using bladensburg rd).
adding kids trying to throw firecrackers into your car scares the shit out of me.
thankfully the one that is usually in my neighborhood in the parking lot of a (now apparently) defunct laundromat isn't there yet. sometimes there's a smaller one in the CVS parking lot next door...i just hope they stay away this summer.
i'll see you tomorrow with my nub.
Well there goes my restful nights. I don't care about distinguishing them from gunshots one way or another, but my poor dog may not make it another summer. She spends June to August under the couch and shivering in at the foot of the bed all night. Now, I'm not a "dog-in-the-bed" kind of guy, but I've got to let her in the room or she'll scratch at the bedroom door and whimer all night. Once she's in she stays awake, leaning on the bed sivering everytime a firework goes off, shaking the bed. It's almost like those beds in cheap hotels with "magic fingers", only not.
Well, heres hoping for a super rainy short summer. I'm not an old grump, really.
Let me get this straight.. in this city, you cannot: buy a gun, own a gun, own ammunition, talk on a cell phone while driving, eat on the metro, ride an unregistered bike, register a bike, open a food kiosk, but.. you can get fireworks!!!!
Magpie and Politburo: Didn't the article above just state that firecrackers are illegal in DC (and thus will not be going on sale at all the fireworks stands popping up around the city)?
And does DC really have that big a problem with firecrackers? I think we might have more of a problem with actual gunfire that kills people than with a few kids who light off illegal fireworks a few months a year.
Mitch - Firecrackers != Fireworks. And the distinction is actually deeper than that. Follow the link in the DCist summary to see what is legal and what is illegal.
Firecrackers are a subset of fireworks. Firecrackers intentionally explode, whereas other types of fireworks only do this if they are defective or modified (oh, for the days of my youth).
They are a problem because in areas with high gunfire rates, you also tend to have high juvinile crime, and that tends to mean many juviniles who play with firecrackers. From there, it should be easy to imagine that the peace of mind residents of these areas can eek out is diminished by every explosion of unknown origin. I promise that is so!
So buy a cople bucks of fireworks in DC, then march over to PG Co Police & hand em over, you get a FREE ticket to 6 Flags.
You may have to be a PG Co resident tho...