Bloomberg: If Sparklers Are Legal, The Terrorists Will Win

Citing national security concerns and the war on terror, New York City Mayor  Michael Bloomberg asked New York Gov. Michael Cuomo to ban the sale of  children’s fireworks.

City officials worried that sparklers — handheld fireworks that emit colorful  sparks and are often waved through the air by kids on the Fourth of July — could  be used in terrorist attacks, according to The New York Post.

“A recent attempt to harm innocent lives provides a frightening example of  how legally purchased… Fireworks can cause dramatic harm and even kill,” said Joseph Garba, Bloomberg’s state  legislative director, in a statement.

Garba was referring to the case of the failed 2010 Times Square bomber,  Faisal Shahzad, who used a legally-purchased firecracker to trigger his car  bomb. The ignition device failed, however, and the bombing was unsuccessful.

Although firecrackers contain gunpowder, sparklers do not.

The state legislature recently approved a bill that would permit the sale of  sparklers for the weeks of Fourth of July and Christmas only. The legislation  exempted New York City, where sparklers will remain illegal. But Bloomberg’s  office fears that would be terrorists could purchase sparklers elsewhere, and  sneak them into the city to use them in their nefarious plots.

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