State Senate Passes Fireworks Bill

The Georgia Senate has passed a bill legalizing the sale of fireworks in the state.

The measure had been tabled earlier but was revived and passed 43-7 late Tuesday after Sen. Tyler Harper, R-Ocilla, tacked on two amendments to fix ambiguities.

The House had already approved the measure and will have to take it up again to OK the amendments.
Currently, only pop caps, sparklers, glow sticks and glow worms can legally be sold in the state.
The bill passed last month in the House.
State Representative Alan Powell tells WLHR News HB 110 seeks to keep money spent by Georgians on fireworks in our state’s economy, instead of going to border states like South Carolina.
If signed into law by the Governor, the measure will also eliminate confusion among many new residents and tourists who come to the Lake Hartwell area from other states and are unaware that fireworks are illegal in Georgia.
Fireworks sales will be regulated by the Commissioner of Insurance, who is also the State Fire Marshal.
Fireworks dealers would be required to pay an initial license fee of $5,000, followed by annual renewal payments of $1,000.
Sales would be limited to people 18 years or older.

Sen. Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, chairman of the powerful Rules Committee, told colleagues that fireworks are dangerous, as opponents warned, “but so is walking across the street.”