No New Year’s fireworks in Madison Co.
Fireworks have been banned in Madison Co. since the 1940s
MADISON COUNTY, Tenn. — In 1949, a private act passed stating no one could buy, sell or use fireworks in Madison County. The same law is still in place today.
“We have all these adjoining counties that do sell fireworks, but Madison County does not,”said Madison County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Tom Mapes.
Fireworks vendor Joe Hardin expects a lot of traffic from people living in Madison County when his fireworks stand opens Wednesday on the Madison County-Chester County line.
“That’s where most of our business comes from, people coming from Madison County since they can’t buy them or shoot them up there,” Hardin said. “They been shooting them up there for 30 years anyways.”
Although the ban is based on a safety concern, some say not selling fireworks is revenue the county is missing out on.
“Everybody in surrounding counties are selling fireworks,” County Commission Chairman Gary Deaton said. “So if people in Madison County are buying fireworks, they have to go out of the county to do so. From a tax standpoint, we’re losing revenue.”
The downside of this ban is the county can’t collect taxes on the sale of fireworks. This a is decision the county commission may revisit.
“I think it’s something that we may look at again,” Deaton said. “I don’t know. It may be something we can bring back up and debate all over again.”
Even though firework are accessible, authorities don’t want residents taking that chance.
“If the law in Madison County says it’s illegal, let’s be legal,” Mapes said.
If you are caught using fireworks, you could be charged with a misdemeanor and cited with a small fine.
