KIDS THESE DAYS:

For many years, the residents of Costa Mesa, and to some degree Newport Beach, have had to fight irrational arguments over whether to ban the so-called “safe and sane” fireworks sold around the Fourth of July.

Anyone who knows a child involved in youth sports can’t imagine life here without the sale of fireworks to support the teams.

Yet, there are those who would trade this free enterprise system, one that has been working very well for a very long time, with two options, neither of which is workable.

The first option is to ban legal fireworks altogether. The precedent has already been set by most of the county since Costa Mesa is one of only five cities in the county still selling fireworks.

The second option is to stage a fireworks display, charge admission and give the money to the various youth sports programs that would usually sell fireworks.

Both of these would cripple many youth sports programs.

But there is a third way.

In 2006, the Chino Valley Fire Department began a publicity campaign to remind residents fireworks were illegal and there was a $1,000 fine for anyone caught breaking the law.

That year, the publicity cost the department $25,000. The fines totaled $107,000, of which, 80% were collected. The program netted $86,600, all of which was given to the fire department.

At the 2006 meeting during which these budget figures were revealed, the fire department also indicated that 75 to 80% of the illegal fireworks in California are bought in Pahrump, Nev., and illegally brought over the state line.

Pahrump is a town of approximately 37,000 about an hour east of Las Vegas.

In last year’s fireworks debates, Pahrump was mentioned several times as the source of the illegal fireworks in Newport-Mesa. That makes sense given the fire department’s numbers.

So I called Pahrump to ask how the residents felt about being blamed for so much mayhem in their neighboring state. Laurayne Murray, chairwoman of the town council, was not too happy about it, but she did not have a lot of time to talk, nor did she make our scheduled telephone appointment nor return my subsequent calls.

But in the brief time we spoke, Murray indicated she agreed with the premise I set forth, namely Pahrump is not the villain here. The villains are all the people who choose to violate a number of laws just so they can get the biggest bang for their buck on the Fourth of July.

Safe and sane fireworks are not the villain, either. Legal fireworks are designed to be safe, unless the user does something really stupid such as shoving a lit Piccolo Pete down a gas tank or light a Monster Parade on a very dry lawn. That a few people get hurt from legal fireworks each year is a given. But it’s very hard to legislate common sense, and these same fools who misuse legal fireworks are probably like the cast of “Jackass.”

The fact is Costa Mesa and Newport Beach allow behavior that in one year amounts to more injury, property damage, mayhem and busted lives than has a generation of legal fireworks use.

Yes, I am talking about alcohol and cars. Alone they each hold the potential for disaster. Together, they are devastating. Yet, no sane person would ever think of banning cars or alcohol from the city limits of either town.

A fireworks campaign similar to the Chino model could work here.

In a recent online exchange, Daily Pilot columnist Byron de Arakal raised the important point that banning legal fireworks will not stop the illegal ones, the real threat here, from being used. That’s an important point, one the anti-fireworks crowd has failed to address.

Keep the fireworks system the way it is. Increase the fire and police coverage and pay for it with the citation money it generates. And in addition to a $1,000 fine for using illegal fireworks, I’d insist violators be forced to move to Pahrump.

STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and a freelance writer. Send story ideas to [email protected].