THE ISSUE:

Use of illegal fireworks has Schenectady County ready to restore a ban on sparklers.

THE STAKES:

Police should better enforce the current laws first. If that fails to control the problem, only the city should be allowed to opt out.

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Some residents of Schenectady County are either brazenly flouting the law or are just unaware which fireworks may be used legally and which are prohibited. Either way, the county legislature is poised to ban all fireworks. That may be jumping the gun.

The problems date to Fourth of July weekend in 2015, the first time in decades that sparklers and similar hand-held or ground-based "sparkler devices" were legal to purchase and use in New York. Schenectady was among the first wave of counties to opt in under the new state law, which allows each county outside New York City to decide whether it will allow these low-level pyrotechnics. As merchants quickly stocked up and sold all the variations of sparklers, something else happened — a noticeable spike in the use of much more dangerous fireworks, which were still illegal. These include bottle rockets, Roman candles and firecrackers.

This prompted many complaints from residents concerned about the potential for fires from small explosives bursting in the air and the annoyance of the continued popping and cracking sounds deep through the night, awakening babies and terrifying pets.

A year later, the situation was markedly worse. On the night of July Fourth, the skies around Schenectady's Central Park were so filled with rockets and the sounds of explosions, it was as if a professional fireworks display was being staged. All the fireworks in use were illegal, likely brought in from neighboring states where the sale is not banned and sold from trunks of the cars of scofflaw entrepreneurs.

Fireworks-related 911 calls to the Schenectady police were so bad it prompted county Legislator Randy Pascarella to propose legislation rescinding Schenectady County's sale of sparklers. If passed, it would again ban the sale of these items and make it a violation to use the sparklers anywhere in the county, even if purchased legally in Albany or Saratoga counties or any of the many other counties where sparklers are still legal.

The towns outside the city of Schenectady have not had the same problems, yet they would also be affected if the law is rescinded. In Orange County, where the cities of Newburgh, Middletown and Port Jervis had similar problems to Schenectady's, special state legislation allowed them to reimpose fireworks bans without affecting the rest of that county.

Before the county takes that step and penalizes people who haven't broken any laws, though, city police should do what they should have done the last two years, and what they'll still have to do even with a total ban: Enforce the law. They need to staff up around July 4, ticket those who use the illegal, dangerous fireworks and go after those who sell them.

Yes, there are more serious crimes in the city, but quality of life matters to people, too. July 4 is a celebration of freedom, not mayhem.