Opinion.
The tragic New Year's Eve fireworks explosion in Honolulu was a devastating incident for those involved.
Attempts to ban or heavily restrict fireworks in Hawaii are not new - in fact, they have a long and complicated history. In the early 20th century, some Hawaiian territories and counties passed laws limiting the sale and use of fireworks, similar to the national prohibition on alcohol. However, these bans often proved ineffective, as residents continued to obtain fireworks, creating a thriving black market. In the 1990s, for example, lawmakers outlawed the personal use of aerial fireworks and limited the types of fireworks deemed permissible. Enforcing these new laws was challenging, with many residents continuing to defy these rules.
Similar to the prohibition of alcohol in the early 20th century, efforts to crack down on illegal fireworks have often resulted in unintended consequences that exacerbate the problem.
In the 1920s, when the federal government banned the production, importation, and sale of alcohol, it led to the rise of organized crime and a thriving black market for bootleg liquor. Hawaii clearly has not learned its lesson, and the current laws banning the personal use of large aerial fireworks have not stopped residents from obtaining them through other means.
Bans and restrictions on the use of fireworks in Hawaii have done little to curb their proliferation. Despite the creation of a fireworks task force that has seized over 227,000 pounds of “illicit explosives” (according to this AP article), fireworks-related incidents have continued to increase, with a 30% rise in fires compared to the previous New Year's celebrations. This suggests that the current prohibitive approach has been altogether ineffective. Past patterns of failed attempts to ban high-demand products do little more than further fuel consumer demands.
The cultural significance of fireworks in Hawaii, which spans diverse ethnic communities, complicates enforcement efforts. Many residents view the use of fireworks as an important tradition and part of their cultural identity. Aggressive crackdowns are rightly viewed as an attack on these cultural practices, leading to further resistance and resentment.
A heavy-handed enforcement approach is not the solution. Instead, a more nuanced and collaborative approach that addresses the root causes, such as improving public education or providing safe and legal alternatives may yield better results.
The north star here is for the government to legalize personal freedom and stop trying to regulate the free market. The consistent result of such well-intended intervention in the free economic choices of individuals is blowback, or unintended consequences often worse than the original problem. The “answer” proposed by statists is to give the government more power to restrict liberty - which completes the vicious feedback loop. This is not the answer. The government would do far better to remove the ban, and instead focus on the use of fireworks in places or situations which are objectively dangerous, such as large fireworks launched from dense neighborhoods, where the risks are greatest, as opposed to a blanket ban, which requires no “reasonableness” standard in enforcement, leading to large reductions in freedom, safety, and enforcement capability.
As C. S. Lewis stated: “Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. This very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be "cured" against one's will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals.“
~Austin Martin, Libertarian Hawaii Chairman
~Abbra Green, Libertarian Hawaii Secretary
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