Being a rebel at heart, I'm not a fan of big government. However, I will concede that fireworks are best left to our elected overlords. It is really all about the money here. Generally, city governments have the cash to put on the impressive displays. They also have their displays just after nightfall to help ensure a productive tax-paying workforce the next morning.
In contrast to my drunken neighbors who decided to start their lame display of bottle rockets and firecrackers at a quarter to eleven last night. They made up for the overall weakness of their pyrotechnics by stretching it out for over an an hour. The interim between explosions was filled by drunken hootings. During this the following exchange took place in the Crusader household:
Littlest Two-Year-Old Crusader: (Sobbing after being awakened) "Scarwy hammer noises Daddy!"
Crusader: "Yes."
Littlest Two-Year-Old Crusader: "Scarwy noises Daddy!"
Crusader: "Yes, and I'd like to help you express your fear in words beyond your two-year-old capacity, but you see Townhall won't let me print those words later."