With a 4-3 vote, Columbia City Council approved an ordinance Monday night that will make Mayor Bob McDavid’s Fourth of July plans illegal.

The council voted to make the possession of fireworks illegal in Columbia. McDavid, who said he buys his fireworks July 2, can no longer keep them in his house until the Fourth of July under this new ordinance.

Columbia Police Department Capt. Brian Richenberger said this ordinance will just help officers punish people for discharging fireworks — the police won’t go around looking for people with fireworks.

“I assure you, we will have better things to do,” he said. “If you haven’t done anything that has attracted our attention, I don’t think you’ll have anything to worry about.”

It was already illegal to discharge fireworks in the city limits, but police had a difficult time arresting people who would discharge fireworks because the police needed to see them light the fireworks. This was particularly a big issue in East Campus where residents complained about noise that led to a lack of sleep. Richenberger said East Campus is the majority of where the complaints come from.

Sarah Smith, a resident of East Campus, brought to the council meeting a large plastic bag filled with used fireworks that were lit right next to her house. She said the fireworks students set off during the week prevent her from getting sleep.

“The police have been called, but they just can’t do anything,” Smith said. “It really has reduced my quality of life in East Campus.”

Most of the people complaining about the fireworks were from East Campus. Councilwoman Barbara Hoppe, who represents the area containing East Campus, said she would sometimes be awakened by fireworks and confused the noise for gunshots.

This ordinance could affect fireworks vendors around the city if people are afraid of getting arrested. But Bob Gerau, owner of Bob’s Fireworks, doesn’t think this ordinance will be effective at changing people’s behaviors. He said he wasn’t too worried about his sales because people will still buy and use fireworks.

Richenberger agrees with Gerau to a certain extent. He agrees initially the ordinance will have a hard time affecting behavior in the short term, but the police are hoping to see a decline in use in the long run.

“The written ordinance won’t initially change behavior, but once people get arrested and get fined, behavior will start changing over time,” Richenberger said.

The punishment for having fireworks could be very steep. With the new ordinance banning possession of fireworks, having fireworks could result in a worse punishment than being caught with marijuana, Richenberger said.

“Possession of fireworks is now a higher-grade (crime) than the possession of marijuana,” Richenberger said.

The ordinance is meant to allow officers to be more effective in preventing people from lighting off fireworks. Many times, the police would be called because a firework was discharged, but when police would arrive, they would only see people standing around with fireworks in their possession, which is not illegal, Richenberger said. The police have to see them light the fireworks in order to make an arrest.

CPD has had a very difficult time arresting people after receiving complaints. Since 2007, the department has received 4,524 calls reporting a discharge of fireworks or firearms but has only made 58 arrests.

One firework spared by this ordinance is sparklers. An amendment passed allowing for people to own sparklers, which was a relief to councilman Michael Trapp.

“At least we’ve decriminalized sparklers,” he said.