‘Tis the season for firecrackers. During this time you can try to train your ear to tell the difference between gunfire and firecrackers. Or you can be like me and say they are all firecrackers. Luckily (knocking on wood products) I haven’t seen a lot of firework stands. Yet.
The firecracker noise will continue from now till about mid August. I don’t remember what the rules are regarding the District and firecrackers.
4 thoughts on “Firecracker season”
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I was ranting to some coworkers over lunch last week about firecracker season, & one of them asked “Aren’t fireworks illegal in DC?” I replied with “Yeah, but so is homicide?”
I just heard a series of four pops when I was at the window. Firecrakers or gunshots? I have no idea. A couple of nights ago I heard a very very loud pop and decided it wasn’t a gunshot. I called 911 and reported a gunshot. I’m still not sure whether I was an idiot.
I think the police may have a similar approach during this season. “If they sound like gunshots, they’re probably just firecrackers. Sure firecrackers are illegal, but it’s not like they’re gunshots, so let ’em go.”
ks
In Washington/DC, we don’t celebrate Independence Day, we observe Independence Fortnight, which fades in around Juneteenth and peeks on July 4. The most exciting sections of the district start to sound something like a vision of Baghdad, which, along with the summer rain, distracts us from the ever present threats of terrorist attack and late night ad hominems. The libertarians are little black kids with fireworks and the redcoats are local police with sirens, which they employ tactically. You can hear them dueling for weeks from any apartment or house in the area. It is perhaps an unresolved matter of American identity.