By Fawn Porter/Staff Writer

Mustang Police Chief Monte James’ advice to City Council Tuesday on fireworks was simple: “Ban them, or leave it alone.”

But City Council members are looking at a number of possibilities, which they will bring back to city residents during a fall Town Hall meeting. Potential solutions include limiting the discharge of fireworks to three days, banning fireworks completely, banning fireworks from commercial and public property, making them only legal in neighborhoods, “renting” sections of Wild Horse Park and limiting beer consumption during the Fourth of July at the park. No formal action was taken Tuesday.

James said partial changes to the fireworks laws could have an effect on other laws, perhaps creating greater headaches than already exist.

“Truthfully, I have thought about so many things … and everything you try to do affects another issue,” James said. “And, in my view, you ban it, or you leave it alone — because everything affects something else.”

James said if officials limit fireworks to three days, complaints in neighborhoods will rise. He said in 1996 the ordinance tightening fireworks laws went into place, and calls went dramatically up.

“So anytime you make something that was legal and make it illegal, my calls are going to go up,” he said.

He said if Council members limit fireworks to neighborhoods, people will crowd into neighborhoods and trash and calls will increase; if they limit it to Wild Horse Park, people will flood the park and it will be even more packed than before.

“The mayor already said Wild Horse Park was too dangerous for him and his child to be out in,” James said. “Now think about all those people who were outside (in their neighborhoods) trying to do it in Wild Horse Park … it wouldn’t be safe for anybody.”

He said permitting would be almost impossible to enforce because the park isn’t fenced and “who’s going to be the gate guard,” and he doesn’t have the manpower if it’s permitted only for residential areas to check each home for a permit.

Some residents expressed concern that no citations were written during the Fourth of July festivities — for issues such as discharging fireworks outside of the legal time frame — but James said his officers cannot write a citation for something they don’t see. He said they must see someone light and shoot off fireworks before writing them a ticket, and can’t when they only see fireworks by someone’s side and a punk in their hand.

As for trash, James said officers must see a person walk away and leave their trash before it becomes a littering violation.

“We have to know that was their pile of trash, and watch them leave it there,” he said. “That’s the law.”

James said a “vast majority” of people not adhering to the law are Mustang residents who may not be aware of the ordinance and to whom they give a copy.

“But the vast majority of these are kids, young kids, who are shooting off fireworks at 1 o’clock in the afternoon,” he said, adding his officers are not in the habit of writing children tickets for discharging fireworks.

Mustang resident Cindy Rice said fireworks were a public nuisance, but James said only the City Council can decide what a public nuisance is, and they’ve said fireworks are legal so it’s not a nuisance.

As law enforcement officers, James said banning fireworks would be the best thing for his department. But, if not, the best way to enforcement is through visibility — in the parks and neighborhoods.

A veterinarian with a local animal health clinic said she prescribes drugs for many animals during the Fourth of July because they are terrified — “they think they’re being attacked,” she said.

Longtime Mustang resident Harold Manaugh brought fireworks found in his yard during the Fourth of July festivities, saying they could have threatened his and his wife’s safety.

“These I offer just as evidence of the fact that fireworks are not a toy, and they’re not a plaything,” he said.

Worse than that, he said, is watching his government continue to accept a circumstance every year around the Fourth of July that continues to get worse, and for the city to be an “enabling agent” for the fireworks industry.

Ronald Rice said his family left their Mustang home to get away from the Fourth of July activities but didn’t think he should have to.

Councilman Len Scott said he enjoyed the Fourth of July and seeing people in neighborhoods interact, bringing the community together.

“I’m not for overgoverning ourselves and making laws just because,” Scott said, adding if Council members listen and put aside their own thoughts, the Council will make the right decision.