What’s legal and what’s not? Local fireworks company breaks down the rules for July Fourth

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A Fourth of July celebration is not complete to most people without fireworks. But some people may be confused on what’s legal and what is not.

Jason Guck has been causing sparks since he was 12 years old. He now owns the family business, Barely Legal Fireworks.

“If we didn’t have fireworks, this wouldn’t be America,” Guck said.

His company sets up five tents around Rochester for the 15 days they’re allowed to sell leading up to the Fourth of July. Oracle Killingsworth works at one of them. News10NBC asked him what is legal to sell.

“In New York the simplest way to put it is if you can shoot it up in the air and it goes pop then … it’s not legal. It can’t leave you and then explode,” Killingsworth said.

That includes devices you hold in your hands, which then explode, like the popular “cherry bombs.”

“But everything else, the fountains and the things that spray and the smoke bombs, things that you drop and they snap, you can have all of those,” Killingsworth said.

What businesses like Barely Legal sell are technically labeled as “sparkling devices” by the state. These are legal. Guck said they don’t travel hundreds of feet in the air but are the best D-I-Y option.

“What people don’t realize is that these fireworks aka sparkling devices are safer for families, backyards and they last longer too,” Guck said.

News10NBC spoke with a worker at Barely Legal Fireworks who said for people who may be sensitive to the sound, they even have fireworks that don’t make much noise at all. For the kids, they have sparklers with longer handles for safety. So there are a lot of different options for you to celebrate your Fourth of July.

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