HB 98

Amends GS 14-410 to establish that it is permissible for pyrotechnics that are consumer fireworks to be possessed, advertised, sold, used, transported, handled, or discharged within the State, so long as compliant with Part 2 of Article 82A of GS Chapter 58 (“Consumer Fireworks”), enacted below. Modifies subsection (b) to change the age to which it is unlawful to sell pyrotechnics, establishing that it is unlawful for any individual, firm, partnership, or corporation to sell consumer fireworks, as defined in GS 58-82A-80, or pyrotechnics as defined in GS 14-414(2), (3), (4)c., (5), or (6) (currently does not include sale of consumer fireworks) to persons under the age of 18 (currently, under the age of 16). Makes conforming changes to the statute's title. Amends GS 14-414 (products excluded from Article 54, governing the sale of pyrotechnics of GS Chapter 14) to now exclude from Article 54 the sale, use, or possession of (1) explosive caps designed to be fired in toy pistols as long as the explosive mixture of the caps doe not exceed .25 of a gram for each cap, and (2) novelties, and sparkling devices, as those terms are now defined in new GS 58-82A-80; removes the five other specified categories that were excluded from the Article. Defines novelties as snaps, party poppers, snakes, glow worms, toy smoke devices, and certain wire sparklers and dipped sticks containing 5 grams or less of pyrotechnic composition (requires the specification of novelties to substantially follow the definition of these devices under Standard 87-1 of the American Pyrotechnics Association) and sparkling devices as consumer fireworks and novelties that do not rise into the air, do not fire inserts or projectiles into the air, and do not explode or produce a report (requires the specification of sparkling devices to substantially follow the definition of "ground and handheld sparkling devices"" under Standard 87-1 of the American Pyrotechnics Association). Amends GS 14-415 to make a violation of GS 14-410(b), as amended, a Class 1 misdemeanor rather than a Class 2 misdemeanor."