Bang for your buck

Massachusetts lawmakers eye legalizing fireworks.  Yes, the state has seen the error of it's way of denying residence to legally celebrate the 4th of July.  For years we people have been carrying this contraband across state lines in fear of being stopped by some Mass. State Police officer hiding in his cruiser behind some tree of the highway ready to pounce and write those tickets.  Why I know personally of some folks who would drive to and back from a southern state with orders packed neatly in the trunk of his car, so I hear...
The story goes more like this:  Massachusetts is in need of money and this would be a relatively easy way to get some.

Rep. Richard Bastien, sponsor of the bill, said Massachusetts residents are already buying fireworks in neighboring states and bringing them back to Massachusetts. Locally, Seabrook has become a boomtown for fireworks sales, with several stores lining Route 1 near the Massachusetts border.

When July 4 approaches, the parking lots at the Seabrook stores are often filled with cars sporting Massachusetts license plates. Over the years, the Bay State has tried to stem the flow of fireworks over the border by using state police to nab people as they crossed into Massachusetts on Interstate 95.

Bastien said the bill's passage could keep jobs and revenue in state, estimating $2 million in sales taxes from a $40 million industry.

Side story:  How much money CAN a retired police officer make in Massachusetts