Shelly Romer’s young children have been jolted awake and her dogs panicked by powerful fireworks being set off late at night in her Tamaqua neighborhood.

She’s in favor of proposed legislation that would repeal a 2017 law that allows Pennsylvania residents to purchase and set off powerful fireworks, including firecrackers, Roman candles, and bottle rockets.

State Reps. Jeanne McNeill and Peter Schweyer, D-Lehigh, have introduced a bill that would repeal the law.

The proposal is co-sponsored by state Reps. Robert Freeman, D-Northampton; Steve Samuelson, D-Northampton; Mike Schlossberg, D-Lehigh; and Mark Rozzi, D-Berks.

It was sent to the House Agriculture And Rural Affairs Committee on March 19.

Last year, state Sen. Judith Schwank, D-Berks, drafted a bill to do much the same thing, but it never made it out of the Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee.

McNeill’s bill, HB 988, would address “growing complaints of inappropriate fireworks usage that have been rampant across Pennsylvania,” McNeill said in a press release.

“Last summer, as noted by conversations I had with many residents throughout Lehigh County, it seemed as though the COVID-19 pandemic produced an uptick in pyrotechnic use,” she said. “This increased nighttime activity added to the stresses in our communities: upsetting pets, depriving many from sleep, negatively impacting our veterans with PTSD and, in our cities, posing a safety issue.

“One resident described it as living in a ‘war zone.’ And, as the Memorial Day weekend draws closer, followed by the July Fourth holiday, so too will the inevitable calls and complaints to my office about fireworks activity,” McNeill said.

But Romer is among those who believe the legislative change wouldn’t necessarily solve the problem.

“I think it’s a great idea,” she said of the proposal. “But I’m not confident that those setting them off would abide by them, unless there are possibly stricter rules.”

The 2017 law sparked a boom in the numbers of complaints, police chiefs and borough officials say.

“It’s become more of a nuisance now,” said Tamaqua Police Chief Michael Hobbs.

He favors the proposal, “absolutely.”

“We’ve had calls about fireworks landing on roofs and vehicles. And the noise. We hear from people with animals, people who work are being woken up at all hours of the night,” he said.

“If we catch them, we cite them,” he said of those who violate the 2017 law’s restrictions, which include forbidding fireworks from being set off within 150 feet of an occupied building.

“We’ve cited people last year for setting them off too close to houses. In the borough, you really don’t have room to set them off properly.

“People don’t realize the restrictions. The law says they are now permitted, but you have to keep reading,” he said.

In Lansford, Police Chief Jack Soberick said his department is so inundated with complaints that they can’t respond to them all and are unable to catch the people who are setting them off.

“Obviously in most of these small, cramped coal region towns, there are very few ‘legal’ places to set off celebratory fireworks,” he said.

“Changing the law is pointless. The genie is out of the bottle. The law already prohibits the use of fireworks near buildings, and there are other restrictions, which are almost unenforceable as police departments would need cops on every corner,” he said.

“As with anything, it’s not the item or device, it is the lack of respect and common sense of those using the item or device,” Soberick said.

“I think maybe holding the property owner where fireworks are being set off criminally accountable might be a deterrent. Right now, we have to apprehend the person who lit the fuse. How can we do that?” he said.

Romer understands.

“I’m sure it is not always possible to find those who are setting them off, but I think if those people know that there will be consequences to their actions, maybe they’d ease up a little,” she said.

Every neighborhood is affected. In Monroe County, East Stroudsburg Borough Manager Brian S. Bond is of like mind.

East Stroudsburg was among other boroughs that amended its fireworks ordinance to bring it into compliance with state law.

“By following state law, it pretty much made it so there weren’t many places in the borough where you could light them off,” he said.

But people either don’t know the restrictions, or they don’t care.

“Even before they made it legal, they were still lighting them. It’s always been a problem around the Fourth of July. When they started selling (the more powerful fireworks), even to out-of-state residents, we saw a drastic increase, even before anyone from Pennsylvania was allowed to purchase them,” he said.

Too many people are unaware of the potential for harm, Bond said.

“Fireworks can be very dangerous. They can injure people and damage property,” he said. “And alcohol and fireworks don’t mix.”

Bond isn’t alone in his observations.

Ronald J. Grutza is Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs and Assistant Director of Government Affairs for the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs.

“Since the passage of Act 43 (of 2017), we have heard from boroughs across Pennsylvania about the problems the new law is causing locally. Our local officials are on the front lines fielding a lot of complaints about the loud and dangerous fireworks, but unfortunately they don’t have the ability to limit the consumer fireworks,” he said.

“Our association supports a commonsense approach, allowing municipal officials to decide locally what works best for their community. We support a return to the law before Act 43 or a municipal opt-out to prohibit the use of consumer fireworks in their municipality,” Grutza said.

“I am aware of many municipalities that updated their ordinances to mirror the new state law. They still cannot prohibit the use of consumer or novelty fireworks. Some did put restrictions on the hours they may use them,” he said.