However you may feel about fireworks, love them, or hate them, well, I completely agree with you.

As a pet owner, I cringe at the noise, choke on the smoke, and pretty much dread the week before Independence Day, because of the people who just can’t wait to set off their fireworks. Have you ever tried to get a terrified hundred-pound dog out the door for his nightly toilette when the world is exploding around you? Or ever noticed how many more missing dog and cat posters appear at the post office after July 4?

As a home owner, even with a four-year-old metal roof, I hold my breath when I see the sparks fall in my neighborhood, or watch a floating lantern rising into the sky, wondering where it will come down, and if it will have enough of a spark left to ruin someone’s night.

I was even that kid, the one everyone has a story about, who stepped on a sparkler and burned her foot. I loved fireworks a little too much, and got too close.

But I still love fireworks. There’s the ooh and ahh element, and getting together with people to watch. There’s the science behind it — what makes those beautiful colors as it burns?

We have a surprising amount of light pollution in the Valley, so not many opportunities for watching shooting stars and such, unless you go for the man-made kind.

They are beautiful and meaningful, whether you are celebrating the birth of a country, or the fact that you get a day off to celebrate.

The Snoqualmie City Council is considering a ban on aerial fireworks right now, prompted by a house fire last year.

Based on the public comments made to the council, and the conversation that sprung up following the fire last year, there are two issues at the heart of the debate, safety and individual rights.

Safety people say it’s a bad idea to let people have a party, maybe a few drinks, and then set off small explosives in a dense residential area.

Rights people say it’s a bad idea to restrict their responsible use of fireworks, and point out that it was an illegal firework that caused last year’s fire.

Snoqualmie’s council is expected to vote on an aerial fireworks ban Feb. 9, and discussion has begun on the city presenting a public fireworks show by a pyrotechnics company, as an alternative.

Meanwhile, Carnation has had a July 4 celebration for many, many years, including a big public show. But they also faced this issue, and had this same conversation.

In 2001 and in 2003, the city and surrounding area suffered several fireworks-caused fires. The causes varied, but all were illegal; one was caused by fireworks discharged outside the allowed hours, one by an illegal firework, and one in 2003, by a ground-based effect that had been made illegal the previous year by a city ban on all fireworks but sparklers. Since then, the city has also banned shake roofs on all new construction, as a precaution.

So, the city that already had a public event, and a big fireworks display, still had problems with fireworks.

It reminds me of something Snoqualmie’s Fire Chief, Mark Correira said. All year, firefighters focus on safety and education about fire prevention, but then it suddenly changes.

“There’s one day a year when we say, ‘OK, let’s throw fire in the sky, and hope nothing bad happens,’” he said.

Right there, in one sentence, he sums up both sides of the debate. We all hope nothing bad happens, but it is only once a year. People have the right to celebrate, but not the right to harm someone else or damage their property.

Before I put a stake in the ground on this issue, though, I have to wonder about a few things. What would happen if everyone just followed the rules that we already have?

If everyone checked to make sure they bought only legal fireworks, and if they then limited their fireworks fun to the designated hours, then maybe we’d hear fewer sirens on July 4.

I’d certainly see my cat that week, without having to look under the bed.