Pyrotechnics

2025-2026 Bill 4781: Pyrotechnics - South Carolina Legislature Online

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
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H. 4781
STATUS INFORMATION
General Bill
Sponsors: Rep. Wickensimer
Document Path: LC-0397CM26.docx
Introduced in the House on January 13, 2026
Currently residing in the House Committee on
Labor, Commerce and Industry
Summary: Pyrotechnics
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

Date

Body

Action Description with journal page number

12/16/2025

House

Prefiled

12/16/2025

House

Referred to Committee on
Labor, Commerce and Industry

1/13/2026

House

Introduced and read first time

1/13/2026

House

Referred to Committee on
Labor, Commerce and Industry

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legislative information
at the website
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
12/17/2025

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING SECTION
23-35-10
so as to regulate the manufacture, sale, transport, use and display of
PYROTECHNICs; AND BY AMENDING SECTION
23-35-45
, RELATING TO USE OF PYROTECHNIC
MATERIALS INDOORS, so as to provide additional restriction on their use.

B
e it enacted by the
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

S
ECTION 1.
C
hapter 35, Title 23 of the S.C. Code is amended by
adding:

S
ection
23-35-10
.
(
A) As contained in this
section:

(
1)
"Concert or public exhibition" means a fair, carnival, show of any description,
or public celebration.

(
2)
"Display operator" means a person issued a display operator's license by the
State Fire Marshall.

(
3)
"Pyrotechnics" means fireworks and explosives, which are used for exhibitions
or amusement purposes.

(
B)
Except as otherwise provided in this section, it is unlawful for any
individual, firm, partnership, or corporation to manufacture, purchase, sell,
deal in, transport, possess, receive, advertise, use, handle, exhibit, or
discharge any pyrotechnics within the State.

(
C) It
is permissible for pyrotechnics to be exhibited, used, handled, manufactured,
or discharged within the State, provided:

(
1)
the exhibition, use, or discharge is at a concert, or public exhibition;

(
2)
all individuals who exhibit, use, handle, or discharge pyrotechnics in
connection with a concert or public exhibition have completed training and
licensing required under state law;

(
3)
the display operator or proximate audience display operator is present at the
concert or public exhibition and personally directs all aspects of exhibiting,
using, handling, or discharging the pyrotechnics. Notwithstanding this subsection,
the display operator for any university or college may appoint an on-site
representative to
supervise any performances that
include a proximate audience display after the opening performance, provided
that the representative is at least twenty-one years of age and is trained
properly in the safe discharge of proximate audience displays; and

(
4)
the display operator has secured written authority from the appropriate county
or city council in which the pyrotechnics are to be exhibited, used, or
discharged. Written authority from a county or city council is not required for
a concert or public exhibition provided that the display operator has secured
written authority from a university or college.

(
D) It
is not unlawful for a common carrier to receive, transport, and deliver
pyrotechnics in the regular course of its business.

(
E) Pyrotechnics
may be exhibited, used, handled, manufactured, or discharged within the State
as a special effect by a production company, or for a motion picture
production, if the motion picture set is closed to the public or is separated
from the public by a minimum distance of five hundred feet.

(
F) Pyrotechnics
may be exhibited, used, handled, manufactured, or discharged within the State
for pyrotechnic or proximate audience display instruction consisting of
classroom and practical skills training approved by the State Fire Marshal.

(
G) It
is unlawful for any individual, firm, partnership, or corporation to sell
pyrotechnics to persons under the age of sixteen.

(
H)
When the sale or purchase of pyrotechnics is made, and the delivery is made by
a common or other carrier, the sale is deemed to have been made in the county
where the delivery was made by the carrier to the consignee.

(
I) Possession
of pyrotechnics by any person, for any purpose other than those permitted under
this section, shall be inferred to be pyrotechnics that are kept for the
purpose of being manufactured, sold, bartered, exchanged, given away, received,
furnished, otherwise disposed of, or used in violation of the provisions of
this section.

(
J) A
county council may issue permits for use in connection with the conduct of
concerts or public exhibitions after satisfactory evidence is produced to show
that the pyrotechnics will be used for the aforementioned purposes and no other
purpose. However, a permit is not required for a public exhibition authorized
by a university or college.

(
K) A county
council may issue or delegate its authority to issue permits for pyrotechnics
to be exhibited, used, or discharged within the corporate limits of a city for
use in connection with the conduct of concerts or public exhibitions. The county
council may adopt a resolution granting the authority to the city, and it shall
remain in effect until withdrawn by the county council adopting a subsequent
resolution withdrawing the authority. If a city lies in more than one county,
each county in which the city lies must adopt an authorizing resolution. If any
county in which the city lies withdraws the authority of the city to issue
permits for the use of pyrotechnics, the authority of the city to issue permits
for the use of pyrotechnics ends, and all counties within which the city lies
must resume their authority to issue the permits.

(
L) For
indoor use of pyrotechnics at a concert or public exhibition, a county or city
council may not issue a permit unless the local fire marshal or the State Fire
Marshal certifies that:

(
1)
adequate fire suppression will be used at the site;

(
2)
the structure is safe for the use of the pyrotechnics with the type of fire
suppression to be used; and

(
3)
adequate egress from the building is available based on the size of the
expected attendance.

(
M) A county
or city council shall not issue a permit under this section unless the display
operator provides proof of insurance in the amount of at least five hundred
thousand dollars. A county or city council may require proof of insurance that
exceeds this requirement.

(
N)
Nothing contained in this section shall prevent the manufacture, purchase,
sale, transportation, and use of explosives or signaling flares used in the
course of ordinary business or industry, or shells or cartridges used as
ammunition in firearms. This section shall not apply to the sale, use, or
possession of:

(
1)
explosive caps designed to be fired in toy pistols, provided that the explosive
mixture of the explosive caps shall not exceed twenty-five hundredths of a gram
for each cap;

(
2)
snake and glow worms composed of pressed pellets of a pyrotechnic mixture that
produce a large, snake-like ash when burning;

(
3)
smoke devices consisting of a tube or sphere containing a pyrotechnic mixture
that produces white or colored smoke;

(
4)
trick noisemakers which produce a small report designed to surprise the user
and which include:

(
a)
a party popper, which is a small plastic or paper item containing not in excess
of sixteen milligrams of explosive mixture. A string protruding from the device
is pulled to ignite the device, expelling paper streamers and producing a small
report;

(
b)
a string popper, which is a small tube containing not in excess of sixteen
milligrams of explosive mixture with string protruding from both ends. The
strings are pulled to ignite the friction-sensitive mixture, producing a small
report; or

(
c)
a snapper or drop pop, which is a small, paper-wrapped item containing no more
than sixteen milligrams of explosive mixture coated on small bits of sand. When
dropped, the device produces a small report;

(
5)
wire sparklers consisting of wire or sticks coated with nonexplosive
pyrotechnic mixture that produces a shower of sparks upon ignition. These items
must not exceed one hundred grams of mixture per item; or

(
6)
other sparkling devices which emit showers of sparks and sometimes a whistling
or crackling effect when burning, do not detonate or explode, do not spin, are
hand-held or ground-based, cannot propel themselves through the air, and
contain no more than seventy-five grams of chemical compound per tube or no more
than a total of two hundred grams if multiple tubes are used.

S
ECTION 2.
S
ection
23-35-45
of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

S
ection
23-35-45
. Nothing in this chapter or in any other provision of law prohibits
the use of pyrotechnic materials inside any enclosed entertainment or assembly
area before proximate audiences when the indoor pyrotechnics are used in
accordance with Standard 1126 of the National Fire Protection Association
entitled "Standard for the Use of Pyrotechnics Before a Proximate Audience,"
1992 edition
and Section
23-35-10
. The State Fire
Marshal Division of the Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation is
designated as the agency responsible for implementing, administering, and
enforcing the provisions of this section, including the promulgation of
necessary regulations. The State Fire Marshal Division also may establish fees
which may be charged on a per performance or other basis to offset the cost of
enforcing the provisions of this section, such fees to be the responsibility of
the owner or operator of the establishment where the indoor pyrotechnics shall
be used.

S
ECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval
by the Governor.

----XX----

This web page was last updated on January 13, 2026 at 2:40 PM