State lawmakers want more fireworks.
They want more kinds available year-round. They want all kinds of fireworks to be available for more of the year.
Two bills moving through the legislature would loosen regulations on fireworks in Tennessee. One would allow large sparklers to be sold in more places all year long. Another would allow firework tents to pop up around Juneteenth, Memorial Day, and Labor Day.
The first bill would create a new category of fireworks here. These “novelty and sparkling devices” would be defined separately from “higher risk” fireworks that explode. Senate sponsor Sen. John Stevens (R-Huntingdon) said they “just sit on the ground and, basically, they are a longer version of a sparkler.”
The bill would allow year-round sales of these types of fireworks at any retailer, including big box stores. Retailers would only have to register to sell them, not get a full permit. Consumers would have to be 18 or older to buy them, or be 16 or 17 with parental consent. Safety restrictions in the bill would make them illegal to shoot within certain distances of churches, schools, hospitals, and fireworks retailers.
These sparkling devices “have a long-standing safety track record,” said Charles Walker, director of compliance for American Promotional Events, also known as TNT Fireworks. “That’s why they’re allowed to be sold throughout the country at all these retailers,” he said. “You have to ask yourself, ‘Do these major retailers … would they allow this type of product if it was such a safety risk to be sold … from their risk management departments or their insurance departments?’ They would not if it was such an issue.”
The idea for deregulation got pushback, though, from another Tennessee fireworks retailer. Aaron Blankenship, owner of Old South Patriotic Inc. and a founding member of the Tennessee Fireworks Association, called the idea a “step back in safety.”
He said these types of fireworks can shoot sprays of sparks 25 feet high and 30 feet in circumference. They cause more injuries than even fireworks shot in the air, Blankenship said, “because they are on the ground and there’s sparks going everywhere.”
Beyond home-use concerns, Blankenship worried about these sparklers being sold so close to lighters, camping fuel, kerosene, and more. He said he’s not even allowed to sell cigarette lighters at his locations.
“I’m not talking about the actual usage when you get it home,” he said. “I’m talking about the unsupervised amount of aisle seven at Walmart being full of these ‘sparkling devices’ that are not truly just sparkling devices.”
Lawmakers saw both market opportunities and challenges in the deregulation proposal. It’s another product line, especially for bigger retailers. And that could pressure smaller businesses, according to Sen. Shane Reeves (R-Murfreesboro).
“I’ve got some small fireworks guys in my back door,” he said. “They’re just scared to death about this coming, the impact it’s gonna have on their business if this is being sold at Walmart and Kroger and Target and all over the state of Tennessee.”
The other firework proposals would increase the number of days they can be sold across the state. Sen. Ken Yager (R-Kingston) said fireworks businesses expect a bump in sales this year as America celebrates its 250th anniversary.
Tennessee allows fireworks sales around Independence Day, Christmas, and the New Year. Those selling windows would broaden under the bill. It would also allow sales windows for Juneteenth, Memorial Day, and Labor Day.
The new sales windows would close in February 2027, Yager said, after 250th anniversary celebrations had fully wound down.