Fireworks?

June 1, 2007 8:59 PM

I would appreciate any tips on where to buy aerial fireworks in New Hampshire.

I would be travelling through Massachussetts. Are there surveillance cops watching for this sort of thing? I'm just talking about enough for a small July 4th party, and this would be a day trip or overnight stay in the next couple of weeks.

posted by longsleeves to shopping (8 comments total)

PHANTOM FIREWORKS
posted by dnthomps at 10:11 PM on June 1, 2007

They're not legal in New Hampshire.

When it comes to that kind of thing, then if you don't really care about the law the thing to do is to find an Indian reservation; they sell all kinds of things that the encapsulating state doesn't like (because the states don't have jurisdiction). But I don't think there are any in New England.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 10:12 PM on June 1, 2007

[I'm assuming that by "aerial fireworks" you mean rockets/mortars. Those are not legal in New Hampshire.]
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 10:14 PM on June 1, 2007

oy.
posted by longsleeves at 1:09 AM on June 2, 2007

As for the surveillance cops - no I don't think there is that sort of thing. I did have a weird experience many years ago though (I was a teenager). My friends and I had gone up to NH and bought some fireworks and stopped at Hampton Beach on our way home. I can't remember exactly why the cop came up to us in the parking lot of the beach, but he made up open the trunk. He saw the fireworks and said he was confiscating them.
He let us think that long enough for us to feel totally deflated and sad and then said no, we could keep them, but we better not be using them where they were illegal.
It was the weirdest thing.
posted by jdl at 6:32 AM on June 2, 2007

You won't be able to get what you are looking for at Phantom. From the link:

"PLEASE NOTE: Only approved tubes, repeaters, parachutes, assortments, fountains, wheels, spinners, sparklers and novelties are permitted to be sold in New Hampshire."

Basically, the crappy stuff they sell at Turkey Hill.
posted by Loto at 7:03 AM on June 2, 2007

Are there surveillance cops watching for this sort of thing?

Yes, there are. Every year around July 4, the MA state police put a couple patrols around the border (95, 93, 495, and Route 3, southbound all) looking for fireworks visible inside cars. They also look for vans smuggling the fireworks into MA for resale; if you're driving a van through Chelmsford on July 3 and you spot a cruiser, keep to the speed limit.

If you watch the local news over the June 29–July 1 weekend, you'll see a report about cars being stopped. Every year, the same news report.

Obviously there's not much chance you'd be caught if you drove the speed limit with a couple bags kept out of sight...but to answer your question, yes, there are state patrols specifically watching for fireworks being smuggled across the border.
posted by cribcage at 9:01 AM on June 2, 2007

Thanks to all.
posted by longsleeves at 7:21 PM on June 2, 2007