KIDS THESE DAYS:

There are several disturbing aspects of the several dozen online replies to last week’s column on managing fireworks, but the passion of the responses is the least of them.

The reader comments, though, reminded me of the famous line spoken at a National Rifle Assn. convention by former NRA President Charlton Heston, who said, “From my cold, dead hands!” as he held a replica colonial musket above his head, paraphrasing the NRA bumper sticker, “I’ll give you my gun when you take it from my cold, dead hands.”

Substitute “fireworks” for “gun” and you’ll get the picture. Not convinced? When I wrote that the anti-fireworks crowd had offered an olive branch by shifting their position from elimination of fireworks to managing them, “Bkrochman” wrote, “Steve, I don’t see a need for an olive branch” and “I see no reason for any compromise.”

Again, the passion was not the most disturbing part; it was that the point of the column could be so completely ignored by so many. It was my first experience with mass hypnosis.

The column, you see, was not about stopping fireworks. That’s no longer on the radar and I made that clear in the column after spending close to two hours with Costa Mesa Councilwoman Wendy Leece.

Fireworks are here to stay. I am more confident than ever of making that statement after speaking to Costa Mesa City Councilman Eric Bever after a candidate forum last year and after speaking to Leece nine days ago.

But some people have to find something to rail against, I suppose.

Nor was it disturbing that two ideas were so utterly dismissed without a second thought.

The first idea was meant to address the out-of-towners who come to Costa Mesa, buy fireworks, then shoot them off somewhere in the city, usually in a spot that is not legal.

To stop them, the idea was to open up the parking lot at the fairgrounds and give parties designated places to light their fireworks. Members of the police and fire departments would patrol the area. The concept is that it is better to have all the out-of-towners in one spot than to have the police and fire departments play “Whack-A-Mole” by running around the city each time there’s a report of legal fireworks going off in an illegal spot.

About the fairgrounds idea, “silverthorn” wrote, “Sure, fairground concept. All day event. Vendor area (with fireworks booths). Allow family/friends tailgate parties. Allow alcohol. Great idea. Problem is people like to have barbecues at home with family/friends, drink, set off fireworks. Why will they go to the fairgrounds? And if the idea is to recover expenses, this sounds expensive.”

The second idea, the one I support this year, was simple and inexpensive. This year, fireworks vendors would be asked to include a flier listing the city’s fireworks rules. Another option is to have a sandwich board listing the rules outside each stand.

But even that easy, cheap option was shot down. “Steve Joslin” wrote, “Steve: I understand the idea of making people aware of fireworks laws, but you can’t make people obey the law. Short of running a background check on each fireworks stand customer (many of whom pay cash), I don’t know how you [ensure] that they’ll use them in a safe manner.”

I understand the skepticism about managing fireworks and about pouring water on the fire of a couple of suggestions.

What I don’t understand is that in all of the crying over managing fireworks, this thread did not produce a single new idea, not one proposal to help try to reduce the use of illegal fireworks or the illegal use of legal fireworks.

If you don’t like these ideas, come up with some of your own to help our police and fire departments.

The failure to do so makes no sense.

Speaking of making no sense, the best exchange was started by “Brian Theriot” who wrote, “There are no sales of illegal fireworks in Costa Mesa.”

When I laughed online at this naiveté and offered that those who sell illegal fireworks don’t have stands, Theriot changed his statement to, “There are no legal sales of illegal fireworks in Costa Mesa.”

Now, you’re probably ahead of me here; you’ve probably already figured out that if illegal fireworks are sold legally, they are not illegal.

But that’s the type of twisted logic we get when we try to pry those hands off fireworks.

STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and a freelance writer. Send story ideas to dailypilot@latimes.com.