Posted on 06/19/2006 8:10:58 AM PDT by dead
Undercover NYPD cops are cracking down on New York buyers of illegal fireworks by staking out Pennsylvania vendors - and, for the first time, seizing the cars of people who travel out of state to get their Fourth of July fireworks.
So far this year, cops have seized 30 vehicles belonging to New York ers as they return home from Penn sylvania after buying fireworks there, and have arrested 60 people, according to a report in New York magazine this week. The report says undercover cops have been watching Pennsylvania fireworks vendors and looking for New York license plates. The heightened enforcement comes after Mayor Bloomberg's law-enforcement officials noted an increase in illegal fireworks set off during last Fourth of July on Staten Island.
One Pennsylvania merchant, Bill Weimer, told the magazine that he asks New York police to quit taking pictures of his customer's license plates and leave his stores but that they go across the street and "give off that New York cop attitude."
In an odd twist, New Yorkers - who are barred from possessing fireworks in their home state - can legally buy them in Pennsylvania, which prohibits sales only to its own residents.
A law-enforcement source told The Post yesterday that the NYPD also has confiscated hundreds more cases of fireworks this year compared with last year. More than 1,000 cases have been seized to date, as against 150 last year...
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
"Hoosiers are smarter than New Yorkers."
It took us a long time though. We're kind of slow at times.
I read the entire article and all post to that point. Shared the reason most areas make fireworks illegal. Sorry if that was not apparent.
Wonder where they learned that from.
"...Actually, all they have to do is stop you when you cross the bridge into New York. They can generate a list of license plates from the photographs, fax it home, and when your plate number comes up on EZ Pass, deploy the cruiser to pick you up. A quick search of the car (legal, because the surveillance established probable cause), and you're stone cold busted..."
The next thing you know out-of-staters are going to start using magic markers on their license plates when parked due to fear of surveillance! A quick stop on the side of the road a few miles away with a rag and bottle of rubbing alcohol and people will be on their way home. That's my prediction of what will likely occur. Most people have a distaste for cameras peering into their private lives.
~ Blue Jays ~
You would have reason to be concerned if people were launching professional-grade fireworks from their backyards. When professionals conduct displays like the Macy's Fourth of July fireworks, they launch them from barges out in the middle of the East River, for example. Yours was an interesting post.
~ Blue Jays ~
Not a bad idea, there...
That, and using the CASH lanes while carrying a car full of illegal fireworks...
Evidently the "War on Drugs" can easily morph into the "War on Fireworks". I wonder what's next of the contraband list that'll trigger vehicle seizures.
Really???? Texas allows sales twice a year for short periods.
"You would have reason to be concerned if people were launching professional-grade fireworks from their backyards. When professionals conduct displays like the Macy's Fourth of July fireworks, they launch them from barges out in the middle of the East River, for example. Yours was an interesting post."
About fireworks...I have three words....Jeff 'toes' Steinman.
Just to reiterate, that is my prediction of what is going to occur should this type of hamfisted enforcement continue. I certainly am not giving advice to all the scruffy young tearaways out there!
~ Blue Jays ~
You are more likely to have difficulty with a cheap skyrocket than a mortar shell. Mortars lift off, fly straight up and do their thing. Skyrockets can fly pretty far and tend to fly in random directions.
Were I king, I'd allow shells before I allowed skyrockets.
SD
It might be a good idea to give your yard a big soaking throughout the day before the festivities start. Then you only have to worry about really big embers.
~ Blue Jays ~
I used to buy my fireworks in the Bronx from a bootlegger.
Virginia ABC - rev'noors..stake out DC every Christmas Season for Virginians buying cheaper liquer in DC.
Around 4th of July, DC and suburban Maryland do the same for firworks bought in Virginia.
Silly buggers reckon turnabout to be fair.
My advice, shop early..
Yes we do. The BATFE is a prime example.
My Rights do end where yours begin. Should I be punished because some OTHER idiot can't shoot off fireworks/own class III weaponry/cars/swimming pools safely?
Punish the actor for damage done. Anything else is just giving in to anti-freedom tyranny. Yes, even for something as trivial as fireworks.
Not that I necessarily think you are wrong, but the things you list are already illegal (and possible) - your argument is more with the method than the madness.
In "the olden days" we used to just buy them in Chinatown.
"If we could just tie the fireworks to........."
Nasty Pelegra,,,,,,,,,er Nancy Pelosi!
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