Fireworks ban remains

Don’t light those fuses just yet.
Shooting fireworks will remain illegal in Iola for the upcoming July 4 holiday.
Iola City Council members rejected, 6-2, a proposal to allow the shooting of fireworks in city limits for the first time since the 1920s.
And council members have vowed to find a more palatable way for the ban to be enforced.
Violating the existing ban is a misdemeanor crime. Iola Police Chief Jared Warner said the misdemeanor offense has prevented officers from issuing citations because officers would just as soon not punish parents if their children were the ones shooting the fireworks.
“Misdemeanors go on the parents’ permanent record,” Warner said.
Council members will consider an ordinance to make fireworks violations an infraction instead of a misdemeanor at the June 27 meeting, which would in turn carry a smaller fine.
For example, Iola’s primary seat belt law recently was adjusted so citations now cost motorists only $5 instead of $90, Warner said. Officers had been hesitant to issue tickets for seat belt violations in the past because of the hefty fines.
A smaller fine “would be a much better way of getting our point across,” Warner said.
The old practice “of a wink and a nod” from parents and police has done little to prevent some Iolans from shooting fireworks, Councilman Ken Rowe said.
“We ought to allow kids to shoot fireworks within city limits,” Rowe said, and then re-evaluate the rules afterward.
But his proposal was supported only by fellow Councilman Kendall Callahan.
“Are we going to fine our children for celebrating our country’s independence?” Callahan asked after the failed vote.
And despite the ongoing ban, Councilman Donald Becker said the city should look into easing its ban on the selling of fireworks inside city limits.
“I’m thinking of the revenues,” Becker said.
His proposal didn’t appeal to Iola Fire Chief Donald Leapheart.
“If you sell fireworks inside city limits, but don’t allow people to shoot them off, then you’re asking for trouble,” Leapheart said.
Becker was undeterred, noting Iola merchants can sell alcohol and ammunition, but residents can’t “walk around drunk” or shoot guns within city limits.