OHIO — In Ohio, it’s legal to buy consumer grade fireworks but illegal to set them off -- but that could soon change.
A bill has been sent to Gov. Mike DeWine to sign that would make it legal to set off fireworks around certain holidays, like July 4, for a total of 15 days out of the year.
“I think it’s a good thing to celebrate the country’s birthday. We should be able to do it like everybody else does it,” Matt Penrod, of Riverside, told News Center 7′s Mike Campbell. “That’s what people are doing anyway.”
Fire safety organizations and pediatric doctors who treat children with firework injuries, along with blindness prevention groups, disagree with changing the law.
Lawmakers included a four percent additional tax on fireworks to fund firefighter training and fireworks safety and enforcement efforts.
If DeWine does sign, it would take about nine months from when he signs for the law to go into effect.