Minnesota Fireworks Laws – What’s Legal – What’s Not

Vulcan Fireworks in St. Paul

Even though municipal fireworks display are coming back this year, you may want to plan for our own Independence Day celebrations. So what are the current Minnesota Fireworks laws? What is legal? What is not? And, what about this fireworks shortage?

Here is the short story. Minnesota has the strictest fireworks laws in the region. Pretty much everything you would consider real fireworks is illegal here. All we can legally use are sparklers, things like cones that shoot sparks on the ground, snakes and poppers – nothing that shoots into the sky.

2022 Fireworks Shortage

Unfortunately, the shortage of fireworks that we experienced in 2021 continues into 2022. Last year that meant fewer stands according to WCCO. What does this mean for us in 2022?

  1. Don’t wait until July 3rd to by your personal use fireworks (something I’m generally guilty of);
  2. While Municipal Independence Day celebrations are coming back in 2022, not everyone will have fireworks, ie Minneapolis still will not have fireworks in 2022.  We’re keeping a list of Fireworks shows here.
  3. Quite a few cities will have fireworks during festivals at later dates. You could always plan for a different date.

Minnesota’s Fireworks Statute

Our most recent expansion of legal fireworks was in 2002 with Minn. Stat. Sec. 624.20(c). This is when sparklers and the like became legal in Minnesota. There has been a recent effort to expand fireworks laws and our Governor Walz has stated that he is on board with signing the law. There is a 2021 bill in front of the House (HF 324) and Senate (SF 217). However, as of late May 2021, the law has not been expanded.

All fireworks (including sparklers) are illegal on public property, including parks. They are meant to be used on private property. Save your fireworks for home. Children cannot legally purchase fireworks. Bring an ID when purchasing. Any lawful vendor will ask for it.

Legal Fireworks:

According to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, “[t]he sale, possession and use of certain … consumer fireworks is permitted in Minnesota”.  As we mentioned above, legal fireworks fall into three categories:

  1. Sparklers – These can be wire or wood and cannot contain more than “100 grams of mixture” per sparkler. This will likely include any sparklers you can buy around here.
  2. Cones and tubes that emit sparks, but stay on the ground. Examples include:
    1. Fountains – cylindrical or cone shaped: produce a shower of colored sparks or smoke and sometimes a whistle. The “total pyrotechnic composition may not exceed 500 grams”. If you are only using one at a time, this will not be an issue. You could be outside the law if you stack the fountains together.
    2. Illuminating Torches. I could not find an example of these online. I think maybe they mean glow wands, but there is no description
    3. Wheels – These are similar to the fountains, but are nailed or tied to a post. They revolve and shower the sparks.
    4. Ground Spinners – These operate like the wheels but are used on the ground.
    5. Flitter Sparklers – These are narrow paper tubes attached to a stick that sparkle when lit.
    6. Flash/Strobes – Emit a bright light.
  3. Novelty items with less than “twenty-five hundredths grains of explosive mixture.” These include:
    1. Snakes
    2. Glow worms
    3. Smoke devices
    4. Trick noisemakers
    5. Paper streamers
    6. Party poppers
    7. String poppers
    8. Snappers
    9. Drop pops

Illegal Fireworks:

An easy way to know if your fireworks are legal is, if it flies or it bursts or shatters violently it is illegal in Minnesota. Reputable dealers will not be selling these in Minnesota. Examples of illegal fireworks can be found here.


Leaving the State for Fireworks

Before deciding to just go camping elsewhere, you should know that Wisconsin will sell fireworks to Minnesota residents, but we cannot legally use them in Wisconsin (or Minnesota). North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa are a little more lax about fireworks and about use by non-residents. All these states allow municipalities to enact stricter laws, which means you would want to pull up the local ordinances before going anywhere specific. The Minnesota House Research Department prepared a summary of various state laws in 2017. You can find a PDF of that research here.


This article is informational only. Because I am not a lawyer, I tried to share the laws without interpretation. We do not endorse the use of any fireworks, nor do we share here any personal opinions about fireworks laws or use. We do, however, recommend that you do the research and know the laws before you decide what to use and that you employ all safety measures when using them. The consumer product safety commission offers these safety recommendations.

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