I was up trying to calm down a frantic,barking dog untill 1 o'clock last night. I woke up @7 and am just fine. My husband on the other hand doesn't have this luxury of getting 6 hours of sleep.He gets up @4:00am.For him the 4th of July is a workday like any other.And he works outside! So, yes I don't like it and I know it's a day to celebrate, but this has been going on for days and it gets old.
Just express your love for this country for 1 day and stop by 10:30
Happy Fourth of July, I know who will be taking a nap when he gets home from work.

They are dangerous and illegal. period. The former police officer's comments, while understandable, illustrate exactly why people ignore the law.

There are many legal, safe ways to celebrate that don't involve dangerous incendiary devices. The 30 theoretical families at the party will feel a lot worse when someone loses an eye, suffers a serious burn injury, or worse.

War veterans and pets do not appreciate the loud fireworks. Keep them away from residential areas! Enjoy the pyrotechnics that are organized by your villages and the professionals that are fully trained and supported by firefighters.

Whoever sets them off in my neighborhood gets too close to my house. I find the remnants in my yard. I don't have a problem with fireworks in the neighborhood. My cats get over it, but I don't want my house set on fire!

Always a topic of discussion! One part of me hates to see the revenue earned by Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Kentucky and Missouri. I am sure millions of dollars in Illinois revenue goes to these states. Just like the cigarette tax, people that smoke use the collar states for cheap smokes. We lose again.

I agree with many on the noise factor. Children and pets do react to this badly. On the other hand, nothing like a great back yard display to celebrate the 4th with family and friends.

As for the police, they have a tough job every day. July 4th, with the useless "shot fired" calls to dispatch centers adds to the calls for service. The local police do a great job of enforcing the law where needed.

Happy 4th

"Just express your love for this country for 1 day and stop by 10:30"

What? Who are you to dictate how, when and how often people should express their love of country? There are many things that are against the law that are far more detrimental that happen on a daily basis . I fly a flag 365 days a year - just one of the ways I celebrate my love of country. Things that bother me are illegal actions against people by criminals, politicians, illegal aliens like drinking and driving, embezzling money, murder, not paying taxes, underage drinking, fraud, speeding, etc, etc,etc. That's what I want the police working on - not harrasing law abiding citizens celebrating the 4th with friends and family! How arrogant people are to think their personal preferences should take precedence over other peoples freedoms and customary holiday celebrations. You want to regulate people because youre a pet owner or have non-standard sleep patterns the whole world should just bend over? Expecting others to limit or cancel activities that have been customary for generations and are part of being an American is just silly. Maybe next time your speeding down my street or one of your dogs craps on my yard and you don't pick it up or it starts barking at 5am every morning I'll be thinking more seriously about calling the police.
I hope everyone enjoyed celebrating their 4th however they wanted to since this is still a free country - even the party poopers.

Looks like the "get off my lawn" brigade is out in full force. One day a year (maybe two, if you count New Years) is dedicated to the fun and beauty of fireworks. I'm going to speak for the silent majority who love them and wish there were more. Are there dangers? Sure, but there are few fun things in life that don't have some inherent danger. I think the police are taking the right stance. For people that don't like them, close your blinds and buy earplugs. That being said, 11pm is a reasonable time to stop.

Two death's yesterday- I would never have thought sparklers could be so dangerous!
http://houston.cbslocal.com/2012/07/05/arkansas-teen-killed-after-sparklers-explode/
http://www.kctv5.com/story/18956140/man-dies

Ok, here's the party pooper one last time. Last night(July 7th) we were still listening to the 'law abiding citizens' celebrating the 4th of July through loud fireworks. On the 4th , a large piece of fireworks was shot 2 stories over my house and landed on my deck and rolled under the picnic table. We were inside so no one was injured. But as you can tell by the articles that were posted by FlossmoorMom(above) others were not so lucky. On the night of the 4th my block was like a war zone, large fireworks were set off, flaming debris rained on the trees and the next day I swept my driveway covered with burned pieces of paper. A police car slowly drove down my street stopped when I flagged him down and I asked if he could get people to stop(I did not ask him to ticket anyone) He said he would see what he could do and then drove down the street and never stopped. My neighbor across the street and her son were also outside and her son called the police and had to repeat himself several times because they couldn't hear him because of the fireworks. No one ever came...
This year was worse than last year and next year will be worse if this is considered ok instead of illegal.