GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — Fireworks are a cornerstone of Fourth of July celebrations around the country, from explosive community shows to setting off sparklers with neighbors in the driveway.
If you're looking to pick up some at-home fireworks to use with family and friends, here's a look at what's legal in Minnesota and what is not.
Legal
- Wire or wood sparklers: No more than 100 grams of mixture per item
- Other sparkling items: Must be nonexplosive and nonaerial and contain 75 grams or less of chemical mixture per tube or a total of 500 grams or less for multiple tubes
- Novelty items: Snakes and glow worms, smoke devices, or trick noisemakers which include paper streamers, party poppers, string poppers, snappers, and drop pops, each consisting of not more than twenty-five hundredths grains of explosive mixture
In Minnesota, you must be 18 years or older to purchase legal novelty item fireworks.
To stay safe while using legal fireworks, keep items pointed away from yourself, people and animals at all times. Use novely items away from homes and trees, and be sure to extinguish and dispose of spent fireworks in water.
Not Legal
According to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, the following fireworks are not legal for public sale, possession or use, except with a permit and by a certified operator according to Minnesota Statute 624.20.:
- Any fireworks that are explosive
- Any fireworks that are aerial
- Firecrackers (any size)
- Ladyfingers
- Sky rockets
- Bottle rockets
- Missile type rockets
- Helicopters, aerial spinners, planes, UFOs
- Roman Candles
- Mines or shells (heavy cardboard or paper tube(s) attached to a base – upon ignition stars, balls or reports are propelled into the air)
- Chasers
- Parachutes
- 1.3G Display (special or class B) Fireworks
- Aerial shells
- Theatrical pyrotechnics
Because of recent dry conditions, burning restrictions remain in effect for Carlton, Cook, Lake and St. Louis counties in northeast Minnesota. In these areas, fireworks are not allowed to be set on public or private land outside city limits. Campfires are only authorized in an established fire ring associated with a home, cabin campground or resort.
If you want to leave the fireworks to the professionals, check out this list of communities around the Twin Cities that are hosting professional fireworks shows this Fourth of July weekend.
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