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Comment by cypherpunks01 | Hacker News Reader

Hasn't happened yet, but I can't wait for the first shots in the US "war on fireworks". It's a natural extension of recent culture wars, combining many familiar elements of climate policy debate, worry over China, the inalienable rights of Americans to buy things that explode, etc. Have any big municipalities replaced their July 4th fireworks with drone displays?

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War on fireworks for private citizens, maybe. Fireworks are already pretty much illegal for the public in Massachusetts, but yet there are still lots of fireworks shows on July 4th put on by groups with an appropriate license.

I'd imagine 4th of July is unlikely to shift to majority drones (at least in the near term) due to the economics of it - there are a lot of fireworks shows all concentrated on one evening, and the corresponding number of drone fleets would be sitting mostly idle for the rest of the year. (And I agree that Americans like explosives and would definitely object if you took them away.)

If the price of the drones comes down further, or fireworks become more regulated, then maybe.

> and the corresponding number of drone fleets would be sitting mostly idle for the rest of the year

Would they, or would cities find new occasions to use them because they are already bought and paid for? Maybe Memorial and Labor day drone shows, or "Saturday In The Park" drone shows, or Christmas and New Years drone shows. If they already have them in house, why not use them more? I know I would love that.

More likely some kind of advertisement.

Went to a show in Nashville with some friends, I think last year. And drones were definitely incorporated in (interestingly showing Star Wars and then US military assets), but it was done in tandem with the fireworks. Which as a distraction during transitional elements does seem like a good use for them.

Honestly I think the biggest threat is also fireworks NIMBYism, people don't like the loud sounds disturbing their lives, their pets, etc combined with the general pressure of bigger and better exacerbating those problems.

I would argue that it has already started to some degree, you can't buy really any fireworks in non-specialty stores anymore, many jurisdictions ban all sales, and every 4th there are cops chasing down people illegally launching fireworks in cities. As you said, it hasn't been connected to the greater culture war zeitgeist but I agree it's only a matter of time.

Maybe that's for the better. I've seen people launching fireworks in neighborhoods and it may be fun for them, im sure, but it's a nuisance for everyone else and their dogs. In addition to fires these may cause they always leave a terrible mess behind.

Lol "terrible mess". Massive wildfires are started every year because of fireworks.

I wasn't aware wildfires were started with fireworks, yeah, that's even worse than littering a neighborhood after a session of nuisance that could last a whole night.

Oregon slapped a teenager with like $20 million in fines for starting huge wildfire with fireworks. Kid streamed the whole thing on social media. Anything for the gram, baby.

The last few years a handful of gender reveal parties started fires, too.

Oh wow, didn't know about this. If the kid isn't rich they probably won't be able to get that money from him. Yeah, social media is pushing people to do crazy things and it's quite destructive for the society. We took this genie out of the bottle, is there a way to tame it? And there's the AI genie, we'll see some very bad consequences down the line, im sure of it.

Except fireworks "code Chinese"

I kinda forsee drone shows getting so extravagant that they make fireworks shows seem quaint: "why don't the fireworks make any pictures?"

Then the drone shows get oversaturated because they can easily be put on day after day without expending any munitions. Then they start to be seen as a nuisance and get regulated.

I don't know where you're from, but in the US the primary code for fireworks is overtly patriotic as they are primarily associated with Independence Day celebrations on the 4th of July.

Yes, perhaps in other places they are associated with China, but Americans generally don't know that fireworks were invented in China, and probably not super aware that all cheap consumer fireworks are manufactured there too.

“And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air”

Fireworks are about as American as you get.

Ugh, we’re going to interpret the second amendment to cover fireworks, aren’t we? States will be overruled, the New Hampshire border town economy as well as the hands of many drunken Massholes are in for some damage.

This is pretty much exactly how it works already though, go look on google maps at the MA/NH/VM border. As for 2A, well the Supreme Court seems unwilling to apply it to firearms right now so I wouldn't expect it to be generalized anytime soon.

My joke was that the border town economies in NH would be ruined because it would become legal to sell fireworks in MA.

Oh I see haha, I misread

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