Fireworks laws are so confusing

Typically, my uncle buys big-deal fireworks for my family’s July Fourth clambake, and we don’t ask where they are from. He sets them off after Grandma goes to bed because it alarms her to see mysterious debris fall into the pool or onto our roof. I have learned, just this week, in [Luke Winkie’s explainer]( of the nation’s byzantine firework laws, that this was extremely illegal. This year, I used my mom’s debit card to buy $113 worth of Walmart fireworks so harmless you can light them in your palm, and no sparklers for the kids because none of us are kids anymore. Please be safe in all your spectacles this weekend. —[Kaitlyn Tiffany](, reporter for The Goods Check out [Why'd You Push That Button?]('s whole Death Online mini-series. The podcast (from The Verge and The Goods) is all about the decisions technology forces us to make. Over the past three weeks, Kaitlyn Tiffany and Ashley Carman discussed [mourning a robot](, [what happens to our Facebook when we die](, and [celebrity death Twitter](. Why are fireworks laws so complicated? [fireworks]( Getty Images/iStockphoto On January 1, 1938, Iowa passed a law that banned the sale, possession, and use of fireworks within state borders. The local Congress moved to action after an infamous inferno engulfed the tiny heartland town of Spencer in 1931, [destroying 80 businesses and racking up $2 million in damage](. The alleged culprit? A local kid, who was taking refuge from the summer heat in a corner drugstore. According to the folklore, [he accidentally dropped a lit sparkler into a crate]( full of other, more combustible pyrotechnics, which created a blaze that quickly tore through the isolated town. The devastation was grave enough (although there were no deaths), and the outrage was fierce enough, that the moratorium on firecrackers, bottle rockets, and Roman candles remained the status quo in Iowa for more than 80 years. Ironically, sparklers were never outlawed. [Read the full story on Vox ]( What does an engagement ring actually signify? Even as I question the institution of marriage and all its traditions, I find myself still wanting a ring. [Read the story here ]( Apple effectively has a monopoly on fixing your iPhone. There’s now a fight to change that. Last month, a customer brought her 2018 MacBook Air into [West Seattle Computers](. She had spilled water on it. Technicians took the machine apart, isolated the broken part, and found a potentially easy fix; a power port. The problem was finding a replacement. [Read the story here ]( [More good stuff to read today]( - [How a lack of personal care products contributes to harrowing conditions for detained migrants]( - [Why Stranger Things is perfect for product promo]( - [Nike’s Fourth of July sneaker controversy, explained]( - [Rainbow Listerine and bottles of Bud Light: what happens to the merch when Pride is over]( - [Chanel lost its iconic designer this year. Meet the woman who replaced him.]( - [Kim Kardashian will rename her “Kimono” shapewear brand after appropriation backlash]( Manage your [email preferences](, or [unsubscribe]( to stop receiving emails from Vox Media. Vox Media, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20036. Copyright © 2018. All rights reserved.