Thank you for the great answer! I wonder what's a good way to get the ball rolling. I know right now coronavirus is their priority, but when things seem to go back to normal is when I'd like to push for this on long island.
Hi Phil, I'll tell you what I tell anyone when it comes to trying to get their area "open" to fireworks of any kind:
1) Go and speak with every representative of your area. If the state level, go see your state reps, local area (which would be the case here) go see your local reps. And when I say "speak" with them, I mean just that. Forget emails, Facebook messages, etc. These are worthless means of communication until you actually get the support you need and the ball rolling. Up until then, it's easy to blow you off. Face to face meetings are where it's at.
2) Find a reason other than "I like fireworks and want them legal" because they don't care what you like or want. They care about two things, money and power. Legalizing fireworks isn't going to get them power, so you'll need to show them the money. Whether it is through tax revenue, small business tax, whatever, you'll need to show them the fiscal advantage to legalizing fireworks. Have all your numbers with you the very first time you meet. The last thing you want to do is waste their time because you won't get a second opportunity if you do.
3) Find a large organization to support you if possible. In WV, the ball to legalization moved very slowly until the WV Veterans Coalition came on board. WV has the largest population of veterans in the country and they have political clout. Find someone locally who has a lot of clout to help you.
4) Get into politics yourself. There are lots of positions within local government which can get you a seat at the table so to speak. Of course this part is easier said than done given the time commitment it requires, but I've watched folks get elected at the local level just so they could gain leverage for something they believed in personally. Once they attain it, they just don't run again. Two year commitment isn't all that bad depending on how badly you believe in something.
At the end of the day, the folks who start on-line petitions, email chains, posts on social media....simply wasting their time. It's nice to have something you can point to and say "see the general public cares" but at the end of the day it will matter little. First, it's too easy to fake it and second, like I said earlier, govt officials do not make laws/rules based on what the general public wants (regardless of what they say).
