Bottle rockets? The ayes have it

Talk about it

BISMARCK — A bill to allow the sales of bottle rockets passed through the House floor Wednesday, despite a committee’s do not pass recommendation.

The use and possession of bottle rockets is currently permitted under state law, but the sales are not. House Bill 1257, sponsored by Rep. Blair Thoreson, R-Fargo, passed with a 53-37 vote.

Rep. Steve Zaiser, D-Fargo, carried the bill to the floor after it received a 9-5 do not pass recommendation from the House Government and Veterans Affairs Committee.

Zaiser said the committee heard testimony from local ophthalmologists who have seen many eye injuries as a result of bottle rockets. He said voting down the bill would protect innocent bystanders that succumb to injuries as a result of the misuse of fireworks.

“Have you ever thought what it’s like to have a patch over your eye?” he asked.

He pointed out there were no firework retailers that testified in favor of the bill.

Rep. Rick Becker, R-Bismarck, stood in favor of allowing bottle rocket sales. He said the current law is “silly” and doesn’t make sense.

Thoreson, ready to combat the committee’s recommendation, distributed data from the American Academy of Ophthalmology that found fireworks contributed only 0.68 percent of eye injuries last year. He said the discussion should be about blunt objects and tools that made up 13.3 percent of injuries.

Rep. Rick Becker, R-Bismarck, stood in favor of allowing bottle rocket sales. He said the current law is “silly” and doesn’t make sense.

Proudly telling the House body that he had bottle rocket fights when he was younger, Becker said the “beauty of youth is you learn by doing silly things.”

He said the Legislature protects North Dakotans and provide essential services, “we’re not here to protect people from injuries or from poor decision making.”

“If you believe we are the mommies and daddies for the people of North Dakota, vote (no),” he said. “If you want to preserve freedom, vote (yes).”

Firework sales

Fireworks retailers may be allowed to sell fireworks for New Year’s celebrations.

The House passed House Bill 1259 which would allow retailers to sell fireworks from Dec. 26 - Jan. 1 on top of its current law that allows fireworks to be sold from July 27 - June 5.

There was no floor discussion on the bill that passed 82-7

Speeding fines

Speeding fines could go up after a bill was passed through the House Wednesday.

The current system has three brackets based on the road speed to determine how much a driver would have to pay.

The proposal, under House Bill 1048, would simplify the system down to two. The number of miles over the limit on an Interstate or four-lane highway would be multiplied by five, and the number of miles over on a road with a 65 mph limit would be multiplied by two.

The bill was passed out of the House Transportation Committee with a 11-2 do-pass recommendation and was sent to the Senate with a 61-30 floor vote.

The bill would allow the cities to impose higher fines than the state. A city police officer could write a speeding ticket three times higher than what the state fine would be. A moving violation, such as running a traffic light, could be twice as high.

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