The history has swung around a few times over the 400 years. For that early period it began as a crime by Catholics and then became an anti- Catholic event fairly quickly. Now it is just an excuse to blow things up.

Australia banned the event in the mid 70's and while there are still big firework displays there especially NYE in Sydney it has not been a problem.

I think we should restrict fireworks to public displays under controlled situation the same way as they do in Australia.

In a conversation on the topic last night the banning of Guy Fawkes was seen as being too "PC" however I pointed out to the guy that the local zoo keepers and the fire brigade were grateful it was so wet last night.

And that despite the sale restrictions we still have "pipe bombs" and multiple fires and other health and safety breaches.

It has never made much sense to have explosives freely available to so many people. I compared it to gun control. In NZ we have public policy which controls firearms and a culture that mostly abides by that so not closing down Guy Fawkes doesn't make much sense to me.

I did like the Parihaka idea a few years back. Celebrate that instead of Guy Fawkes. If we want fireworks there is always Diwali, New years eve, Chinese New Years eve and plenty of other events that have more positive connotations to celebrate with fire.

If we're going to have fireworks, I'd be happier with doing it for Matariki - y'know, sometime when it gets dark early, the ground and foliage is usually damp, and less likely to catch fire...

I also feel strongly on this. I recommend the petition "Ban private use of fireworks and allow public display only in New Zealand by 2014 " on Change.org.

link here