An attempt by a Gaffney councilman to ban fireworks within the corporate limits fizzled Monday.

Councilman Bernard Smith called for the ban to control what he described as fireworks “wars” sparked by outof town gangs.

“They come from out of town to here for what they call wars,” Smith said. “And property damage is occurring.”

Smith was referring to incidents that occurred here over the July 4th holiday by gangs he identified as originating from Shelby, Kings Mountain, Greenville and Spartanburg.

The gangs come here because unlike neighboring cities, Gaffney doesn’t prohibit the use of fireworks, according to Smith.

“When you get 500 kids opposing each other, there is not much five or six officers can do,” Smith said.

According to the current city ordinance, the detonation of fireworks is legal until 11 p.m. on weeknights and 1 a.m. on certain holidays.

After his brief speech, Smith made a motion to instruct Gaffney Administrator James Taylor to review the fireworks ordinances of neighboring cities in hopes of drafting a law here to control the problem.

After a lengthy pause, councilman Tom Reid made a second to the motion.

There was confusion over the voice vote, so a roll call vote was taken, in which the motion was defeated, 4-3.

Councilman Wayne Ramsey, Dennis Ramsey, Boone Peeler and Billy Love opposed the motion.

Minutes after the vote and during the closing portion of the council meeting, Gaffney Mayor Henry Jolly voiced frustration that the councilmen who opposed the motion were against even reviewing other ordinances.

“If you got the complaints I got, you’d want to do something about it. It was like a war zone,” Jolly said.