Illegal fireworks easy to buy in metro Denver

You hear the saying all the time, almost as often as you hear illegal fireworks popping off in the metro area: "If it shoots or explodes, it's banned in Colorado."

But there are stores all across the metro area that sell "out of state" fireworks, and we wanted to see if we could buy them.

We took our hidden camera into 3 stores just over the Denver County line. We saw all kinds of explosives for sale.

Colorado law says you have to have an out of state license and out of state registration to buy them. We found someone with an Arizona I.D., but we didn't have out of state registration.

That's when we were told we just had to provide a registration number or a vehicle identification number.

We copied down the VIN from our FOX 31 news Jeep, which is registered in Colorado, and voila! We were able to buy illegal fireworks from 2 out of the 3 stores we visited.

In another store parking lot, we found other customers doing the same thing.

"I have any out of state license, I'm waiting for my friend who has an out of state permit," said one man who didn't know we were recording.

The Denver Fire Department set off the fireworks we purchased, but they had to pull a special permit to do it.

"There's good reason why fireworks are illegal in Colorado," says firefighter Scott Buccieri.

"We are always responding to calls involving injured children and fires started by illegal fireworks this time of year. It overwhelms the system."

But the firefighters weren't surprised we were able get around the law.

"Stores sell them, people buy them and shoot 'em off," Buccieri said.

If you are caught setting off an illegal firework you could be fined $999.