4th of July Fireworks: What’s legal in NC and SC

CHARLOTTE ( QUEEN CITY NEWS ) — Before deciding whether to set off your own Fourth of July fireworks, or leave it to the professionals, Queen City News thought we should give you the breakdown of the laws surrounding fireworks in North and South Carolina.

North Carolina

In North Carolina, you can’t possess or discharge anything that explodes or catapults unless you have a license or permit. Period.

Legal Fireworks : In general, sparklers, fountains, and novelty fireworks items that do not explode, or are not intended to spin or leave the ground and fly through the air, are permitted for use in North Carolina. Those include:

• Snake and glow worms
• Smoke devices consisting of a tube or sphere that produce white or colored smoke
• Trick noisemakers, including party poppers, string poppers, and snappers
• Wire sparklers

Illegal Fireworks : Certain fireworks are illegal to sell or possess in North Carolina. These include:

• Firecrackers
• Ground spinners
• Bottle rockets
• Roman candles
• Aerial fireworks

South Carolina

South Carolina allows any Consumer-class (C-class) fireworks, with a few exceptions. Bottle rockets smaller than 3.5 inches are not allowed, as well as cherry bomb firecrackers, also called ground salutes.

By Carowinds Amusement Park, a strip of fireworks stores are open 24 hours. Yes, 24 hours a day . As long as you can prove you are over the age of 16, you don’t need to be a resident of South Carolina to buy fireworks from South Carolina.

Fines

Technically, it is a Class 2 misdemeanor punishable by a $500 fine and/or imprisonment of up to six months. The usual practice from speaking to law enforcement sources is that warnings are the usual practice. Multiple warnings can lead to fines but rarely arrests.

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