As Independence Day approaches, let us say that we don’t believe that New Yorkers are one whit less patriotic than the Americans of any other state. They would like, just as much as any other Americans, to solemnize our glorious independence with all the bonfires and illuminations – i.e., fireworks – that our Founders asked to be lit “from one end of the continent to the other, from this day forward ever more” each July 4. No, the problem is, and has always been in Albany and City Hall, where the laws were passed outlawing private fireworks in a way that has been acceptable in no other states save two or three others and the People’s Republic of Massachusetts.

Although some persons continue to fire off private fireworks in New York, they or their agents must cross state lines to buy them and then cart them home illegally. The ban as currently set up has been in effect, in one form or another, since 1965, according to a spokesman at the state Consumer “Protection” Board, Jon Sorensen, though in the adjacent columns James Grant, an admirer of Mayor Gaynor, reminds us that he was an early crusader against New Yorkers’ exuberance. To highlight the law and the dangers of fireworks, the Consumer “Protection” Board and other state agencies periodically launch public-service ad campaigns. This year, they have rolled out an especially graphic television spot depicting a Rochester man who lost his hand in an explosives accident last year.

While the victim’s fate is tragic, it is hard to see the logic of banning people from making their own determination of what risks to take in celebrating the Fourth, particularly since, when fireworks are used sensibly, the risks are minor. New York is one of only five states that still completely outlaw fireworks for individuals. Scant evidence supports the idea that a ban leads to a safer public. The American Pyrotechnics Association, a trade group, noted in a recent press release that there has been a 75% decrease in fireworks-related injuries since 1990, even as use by individuals has tripled. It attributes this to better-designed fireworks and a more safety-conscious public.

As it happens, the post of fireworks commissioner has been vacant in New York City since the death of George Plimpton in 2003, and it also happens that his successor as editor of the Paris Review, Philip Gourevitch, is a high-spirited patriot. He himself tries never to miss a fireworks display, and we’re sure he would want New Yorkers to be able to celebrate not with a whimper but a bang. He’d make a fine commissioner. Our country is at war. Every minute of every day the men and women of our armed services are risking their lives in the face of truly deadly explosives. Why shouldn’t New Yorkers be permitted, at their own discretion, to take a few risks in celebrating our independence in the way the Founders of America intended in the first place?