[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Seward as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Fire prevention — See Ch. 252.
Streets, sidewalks and municipal property — See Ch. 340.
[Adopted as Ch. 6, Art. 3, §§ 6-330.01 through 6-332, of the 1976 Code]
[Amended 7-5-1978 by Ord. No. 1136]
No persons except an officer of the law in the discharge of his duties may discharge any gun, pistol or firearm in the City; provided that gun clubs, organizations, groups and persons approved by the Council upon application to the Council may use, fire and discharge firearms for the purpose of shooting blue rocks and practice and training targets or other purposes associated with such activity between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 11:30 p.m. of any day at such location approved by the Council, but are at any other time of the day prohibited from firing and discharging any gun or firearm or such apparatus for such purposes or activity, including members, guests or persons of such club, organizations, groups or persons.
It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to carry about their person any concealed weapon, such as a handgun, knife, billy club, slingshot, metal knuckles, or other deadly weapon of any kind. Nothing herein shall be construed to apply to the municipal police or to a person who is the holder of a valid permit issued under the Concealed Handgun Permit Act (Neb. RS 69-2427 et seq.) if the concealed weapon the defendant is carrying is a handgun. (Neb. RS 28-1202)
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge a slingshot, air gun, BB gun, or the like loaded with rocks or other dangerous missiles at any time or under any circumstances within the municipality. (Neb. RS 16-227)
Any person who violates the prohibitions or provisions of this article shall be deemed guilty of a violation. The penalty for such violation shall be an amount not to exceed $500 for any one offense, recoverable with costs, and in default of said payment the offender shall stand committed to the County Jail until such fine and costs are paid. Each period of 24 hours during or on which a violation occurs or continues shall be deemed a separate offense.
[1]
Editor's Note: Added at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
[Adopted as Ch. 6, Art. 3, §§ 6-333 through 6-336.3, of the 1976 Code]
[Amended 10-4-1988 by Ord. No. 22-88; 6-20-1989 by Ord. No. 21-89; 3-20-2012 by Ord. No. 16-12]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
CONSUMER FIREWORKS
A. 
Any of the following devices that meet the requirements set forth in 16 CFR Parts 1500 and 1507, as such regulations existed on January 1, 2010, and are tested and approved by a nationally recognized testing facility or by the State Fire Marshal:
(1) 
Any small firework device designed to produce visible effects by combustion and which is required to comply with the construction, chemical composition, and labeling regulations of the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission set forth in 16 CFR, as such regulations existed on January 1, 2010;
(2) 
Any small device designed to produce audible effects, such as a whistling device;
(3) 
Any ground device or firecracker containing 50 milligrams or less of explosive composition; or
(4) 
Any aerial device containing 130 milligrams or less of explosive composition.
B. 
Class C explosives as classified by the United States Department of Transportation shall be considered consumer fireworks.
C. 
"Consumer fireworks" does not include:
(1) 
Rockets that are mounted on a stick or wire and project into the air when ignited, with or without report;
(2) 
Wire sparklers, except that silver and gold sparklers are deemed to be consumer fireworks until January 1, 2014;
(3) 
Nighttime parachutes;
(4) 
Fireworks that are shot into the air and after coming to the ground cause automatic ignition due to sufficient temperature;
(5) 
Firecrackers that contain more than 50 milligrams of explosive composition; and
(6) 
Fireworks that have been tested by the State Fire Marshal as a response to complaints and have been deemed to be unsafe.
DISPLAY FIREWORKS
Those materials manufactured exclusively for use in public exhibitions or displays of fireworks designed to produce visible or audible effects by combustion, deflagration, or detonation. Display fireworks are further defined in Neb. RS 28-1241.
FIREWORKS
Any composition or device designed for the purpose of producing a visible or audible effect by combustion, deflagration, or detonation and which meets the definition of "consumer fireworks" or "special fireworks" set forth by the United States Department of Transportation in Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
[Amended 10-4-1988 by Ord. No. 22-88; 6-20-1989 by Ord. No. 21-89; 3-20-2012 by Ord. No. 16-12]
A. 
Except as provided in Subsection B, it shall be unlawful for any person to possess, sell, offer for sale, bring into this state, or discharge any fireworks other than consumer fireworks. (Neb. RS 28-1244)
B. 
Subsection A shall not apply to:
(1) 
Any display fireworks purchased from a licensed distributor; or
(2) 
Any display fireworks purchased by the holder of a display permit issued pursuant to Neb. RS 28-1239.01; or
(3) 
Any fireworks brought into this state for storage by a licensed distributor and held for sale outside of this state; or
(4) 
Any fireworks furnished for agricultural purposes pursuant to written authorization from the State Fire Marshal to any holder of a distributor's license; or
(5) 
Toy cap pistols or toy caps, each of which does not contain more than 0.25 of a grain of explosive material.
(Neb. RS 17-556, 28-1241, 28-1244, 28-1245, 28-1247, 1943, 28-1245)
Sky rockets, bottle rockets or any other form of fireworks composed of a case containing a combustible material, fastened to a guiding stick, which is designed and manufactured to be projected through the air by the reaction resulting from the rearward discharge of gases liberated by combustion shall not be lawful fireworks within the City, notwithstanding any action by the State Fire Marshal to the contrary, and it shall be unlawful for any person to sell at retail or otherwise barter, exchange, or offer for sale at retail, give away, or have in his or its possession, discharge, explode or use or bring into the City any said fireworks.
[Amended 2-7-1989 by Ord. No. 4-89; 11-2-1999 by Ord. No. 51-99; 9-7-2004 by Ord. No. 21-04; 3-20-2012 by Ord. No. 17-12; 9-21-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-23]
Conditioned upon payment of the occupation tax required to be paid by Chapter 350, Article II, § 350-2.1, of the Seward Municipal Code, consumer fireworks permitted within the municipality may be sold at retail between June 28 through July 5 and December 28 through December 31 each year during the following times:
A. 
June 28 through July 3: 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
B. 
July 4: 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 midnight.
(Neb. RS 28-1249)
C. 
December 28 through December 31: 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
[Amended 11-2-1999 by Ord. No. 51-99; 4-3-2001 by Ord. No. 10-01; 9-7-2004 by Ord. No. 21-04; 9-21-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-23]
A. 
It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge, fire, launch or throw any fireworks or any object which is lighted to explode or which explodes upon contact with another object:
(1) 
From or onto any motor vehicle.
(2) 
Onto any street, highway or sidewalk.
(3) 
During any pyrotechnics display authorized by special permit under the ordinances of the municipality and when the special permit authorized the display to be held at the Seward City Park. No lawfully permitted firework shall be exploded in the City Park during the time of said pyrotechnics display except by personnel authorized by said special permit.
(4) 
At or near any persons.
(5) 
Into or upon any building.
(6) 
Into or at any group of persons.
(7) 
In or upon the premises of another person.
(8) 
Within 200 feet of any fireworks stand.
B. 
The discharge or exploding of fireworks within the municipality shall be permitted only on the following dates and during the following hours:
(1) 
June 28 through July 3: 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.;
(2) 
July 4: 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 midnight;
(3) 
December 31: 8:00 p.m. to 12:00 midnight;
(4) 
January 1: 12:00 midnight to 1:00 a.m.; or
(5) 
Between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. on any date for purposes of a public exhibition or display of display fireworks after procuring a permit from the Nebraska State Fire Marshal and City of Seward.
C. 
The discharge and exploding of fireworks within the municipality on any dates or at times other than set out in this section shall be unlawful.
[Added 3-20-2001 by Ord. No. 5-01; amended 6-18-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-18]
A. 
Each vendor of fireworks within the City of Seward, in addition to obtaining the appropriate license from the State Fire Marshal, shall secure a license from the City by filing an application with the City Clerk upon forms supplied by the City. Upon the determination to grant the license by the City Clerk, the City Clerk shall collect the appropriate occupation tax and issue said license. Any license so issued may be revoked at any time by the governing body upon proper notice and hearing, if a hearing is requested by the licensee.
B. 
Each fireworks stand must meet the following requirements:
(1) 
No stand shall be placed within 75 feet of gasoline storage or pumps.
(2) 
No stand shall be placed within 10 feet of another building.
(3) 
No stand shall be placed on a public right-of-way or on public property.
(4) 
"No Smoking" signs shall be posted.
(5) 
Each stand shall have one of the following approved fire extinguishers: five-pound dry powder, CO2 ABC Type, or 2 1/2-pound water, either the pressure type or hand pump.
(6) 
Fireworks shall be sold in a separate stand that is not part of a store building.
[Added 9-4-2001 by Ord. No. 22-01]
It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge, fire, launch or throw any fireworks or any object which is lighted to explode or which explodes upon contact with another object at the following times and places:
A. 
Within one block of the 4th of July parade route for the period of time commencing one hour before the time for the start of the parade and ending one-half hour after the time said parade is finished.
B. 
In or into any park or onto any public property within the municipality for the period of time commencing two hours before and ending one-half hour after any public event such as, but not limited to, concerts and public fireworks displays.
[Added 9-15-2009 by Ord. No. 14-2009]
A. 
Persons or entities engaged in the seasonal sale of pyrotechnics commonly known as "fireworks" shall be required to acquire and maintain in full force and effect at all times while doing business in the City of Seward a policy of insurance, naming the City of Seward as an additional insured thereon, in the following minimum amounts:
General Liability Insurance Limits
Each occurrence
$1,000,000
Damage to rented premises (each occurrence)
$100,000
Personal and advertising injury
$1,000,000
General aggregate
$1,000,000
Products and completed operations aggregate
$1,000,000
Medical expense (any 1 person)
$5,000
B. 
Prior to being issued a fireworks permit, the applicant shall provide the City of Seward an "Acord Form 25" or similar insurance industry certificate of insurance listing as an additional insured the:
City of Seward
P.O. Box 38
Seward, NE 68434
[Added 4-3-2018 by Ord. No. 2018-10]
Any person who violates the prohibitions or provisions of this article shall be deemed guilty of a violation. The penalty for such violation shall be an amount not to exceed $500 for any one offense, recoverable with costs, and in default of said payment the offender shall stand committed to the County Jail until such fine and costs are paid. Each period of 24 hours during or on which a violation occurs or continues shall be deemed a separate offense.