Happy Independence Day! If you’re like me (and most Americans), your celebration today will involve fireworks in one way or another.
As I mentioned in this blog post at Duke University School of Law’s Center for Firearms Law (https://lnkd.in/gEU2kw7t), our Founders anticipated that fireworks would be used to mark this day for generations to come.
(I also explained in that post the dangers and legal history of celebratory gunfire. As SoundThinking (formerly ShotSpotter) knows all too well, a lot of that will also occur today.)
Because ATF does not use the ‘E’ in its official acronym, the same way it hasn’t used the ‘B’ since it became an independent bureau exactly 53 years and 3 days ago (Happy belated birthday, ATF!), many people forget that Congress officially added “Explosives“ to the agency’s name in 2003. A lot of people still just refer to it as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
But it has an important mission when it comes to explosives, both in enforcing criminal laws but also regulating the explosives industry.
You probably don’t think much about the explosives industry, but it is especially important to construction and energy (think highways and mining). And, of course, to the pyrotechnics industry.
ATF does not regulate consumer fireworks (i.e., the ones you can buy from a stand in your local supermarket parking lot). That falls to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (and local and state laws).
But federal law treats commercial fireworks (like the ones I’m going to watch at my local county fair tonight) as explosives. That implicates federal licensing, background checks, and storage laws.
ATF also gets a lot of calls about homemade fireworks, mostly after someone has accidentally blown off a hand or a face. They’re dangerous; don’t do it.
Instead, have a burger or a hot dog, maybe a funnel cake and some cotton candy, and leave the fireworks to the professionals.
And enjoy celebrating how great it is to be an American!