Booming Business

• Fourth of July fireworks in R.I., nearby Mass.

TIVERTON — You can pass from being an honest citizen to a criminal just by crossing a street in the far north end of town.

Fireworks that you can buy legally in stores in Rhode Island are a crime to possess in Massachusetts.

And lots of Massachusetts residents are taking advantage of that by taking a few steps over the state line to buy things that go pop in the night.

“That’s true,” said Walter Mandeville of the Fireworks Connection, 36 Main Road. “We are about as close as you can get.”

The Firework Connection is 200 feet from the state line. Walk past a tattoo parlor and a consignment store for children’s toy and clothes and there you are.

Sparklers, firecrackers, illuminating fountains, snappers and family packs of things that flash and sizzle and make noise.

All of them are legal in Rhode Island, illegal in Massachusetts.


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