No need for a calendar to tell us the Fourth of July is near. Fireworks commercials on radio stations up and down the dial are alerting us.

They also entice us to cross the Illinois border for contraband pyrotechnics to celebrate the nation’s birthday. From the radio ads, one gleans that Wisconsin and Indiana fireworks sellers are ready and willing to supply Illinoisans with plenty of Chinese-made firepower for backyard pageants once the sun goes down on July 4.

Some individuals will match annual holiday displays scheduled in area communities.

Cops must love a Fourth of July assignment. Scrambling from one fireworks complaint to another to stamp out the festivities, only to arrive and find the perpetrators have vanished in a sulfuric firecracker haze.

Most of us know fireworks are illegal in Illinois and have been for decades. Unless, that is, displays are handled by professionals with municipal permits.

That hasn’t stopped your friends and neighbors from becoming outlaws and illuminating the skies overhead with lots of gunpowder-generated rocketry. Canines already are fearful, except those gun-dog types, Labradors and retrievers, who seem to sleep through the rocket revelry.

Don’t get me wrong, I agree with our second president John Adams’ thoughts on the holiday: “It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.” He wrote that in a July 3, 1776, letter to his wife Abigail.

In a mis-spent youth, I lit my share of Lady Fingers, Black Cats, bottle rockets, cherry bombs, M-80s, Roman candles and skyrockets, some the size of four-deuce mortar shells. Unlike some, I managed to keep all 10 of my fingers.

Which perhaps is why Illinois continues to ban individual fireworks usage. Yet, the state is losing out on revenue from the sale of fireworks, if Indiana and Wisconsin are examples. It’s time to make backyard cannoneers legal in the eyes of the law.

Thousands of Illinoisans will travel to the Hoosier State or America’s Dairyland to load up on scores of various types of pyrotechnics to produce those well-earned “oohs” and “aahs” which accompany any thrilling display. Illinois allows us to buy recreational marijuana and gamble on all sorts of devices and sporting events.

But you can’t legally buy fireworks in the state, let alone explode them, although dangerous sparklers are legit. Think of the tax revenue which could end up in state and city coffers around this time of year, New Year’s Eve, and other state, national and international dates.

One compromise would be what some other states allow: The sale of fireworks can only be held during certain times of the year, such as around the Fourth of July.

Instead, our elected officials insist on wasting valuable policing time chasing bootleg blasters. Seems hypocritical compared with other legal vices allowed in the Land of Lincoln.

Of course, these same officials who are always seeking new revenue enhancements want to protect us from ourselves and the taboo misadventure of blowing off fireworks. Mishaps surely do occur.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, fireworks injuries caused 14,700 Americans to travel to hospital emergency rooms last year. That is quite a jump from the 9,700 who sought medical treatment in 2023.

The CPSC is charged with protecting the U.S. public from unreasonable risk of injury associated with the use of consumer products. Formed in 1972, the DOGE Squad must have missed this federal organization when it was looking to cut government waste. After all, there is an inherent risk in just about everything Americans do.

The agency said burns were the most common type of injury in 2024, accounting for 37% of emergency room visits. Shockingly, the CPSC discovered that the most frequently injured body parts were hands and fingers, 36% of injuries. Those were followed by wounds to the head, face and ears at 22%.

Adults ages 25 to 44 represented the largest share of injuries (32%), followed by those aged 15 to 24 (24%). Eleven people died from fireworks-related injuries last year.

Outside of bodily injuries, fireworks can start fires. According to the National Fire Protection Association, fireworks were responsible for more than 31,000 fires across the country. That included 3,504 structure fires and 887 vehicle fires, causing some $109 million in property damage.

Nevertheless, knowing the intrinsic danger of lighting fireworks, thousands will break the law and dabble in having their own pyrotechnic displays. Some will end up in an ER.

To avoid that, here are some tips gleaned over the years: Don’t use fireworks if impaired, don’t use fireworks indoors and young kids should never be allowed to handle live fireworks.

Most of all, never hold lighted fireworks in your hands, including bottle rockets, something learned from experience. And watch your fingers.

Charles Selle is a former News-Sun reporter, political editor and editor.

sellenews@gmail.com X @sellenews