Fireworks are already illegal in Horry’s biggest cities. County beaches could be next.

To get an idea of how popular fireworks are in Horry County, consider that one of its largest retailers stays open 363 days a year.

Billboards for Phantom Fireworks dot U.S. Route 501, and the Waccamaw Boulevard store’s exterior adorned in a red, white and blue exterior — a star-spangled rocket flanking its entrance.

Michelle Turner, the store’s general manager for three years, speaks with expertise on any of the thousands of items on her sales floor.

But customers purchasing Phantom-branded products like the “Zeus’s Wrath” repeaters aren’t able to detonate them anywhere within Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach city limits.

And soon, county-maintained beaches could also ban them.

“It’s a long time coming. All the cities, they all have their own ordinances and we had none, so we’re trying to give the tourists an area and times when they can use fireworks,”county council member Bill Howard said Sept. 20 after officials took the first of three votes needed to create the new regulation.

The law would bar fireworks from county-run beaches and parks altogether and regulate their use on private property in urban areas from any time after 7 a.m. to until 10 p.m., except Independence Day and New Year’s Eve, when they can be shot off until 12:30 a.m.

Violators could face fines of between $50 and $200.

Regulating fireworks use across the vast county is something of a challenge for officials.

“The purpose of this is to address the most densely populated areas of the county where the problem is exacerbated because of people and and buildings that are present,” county attorney Arrigo Carotti said during a Sept. 13 council subcommittee meeting where the idea was first discussed.

Fireworks are big business in the Palmetto State. Residents here spend more on them than nearly any other place in America — only behind Kansas and Missouri according to a recent Allegient Fire Protection report.

Officials earlier this year considered a unique fix that would have allowed residents, HOAs or community groups wishing to ban fireworks in a certain area to contact their county council members.

From there, boundary lines for a fireworks-free zone could be drawn and then by resolution approved by the entire council. A cursory final vote to implement the system was set for April, but the council tabled any action so they could explore the idea further.

Last month, a council subcommittee explored the idea of letting pockets of the county carve out fireworks free zones though special tax districts, with revenues being used for private security to ensure enforcement.

Currently, any type of fireworks ban would be left to the Horry County Police Department — and they can only cite people if an officer witnesses an illegal detonation.

“I can just see them being called 200 times a night for something they can’t do anything about. That’s my concern,” councilman Danny Hardee said. “If I was in my bed, I would want to get a good night’s sleep and not listen to fireworks, I understand that.

“But if there’s nothing they can do, I’d rather them be dealing with the drugs and the shooting and the other stuff they need to enforce for the safety of the people instead of the nuisance part of it,” Hardee said.

Turner said she supports regulations that promote responsible use and safety, but said the layers of rules and regulations can be confusing for visitors.

“It’s something that the county and cities need to come together on,” she said. “That’s how you keep it legal, is by being safe. I think there needs to be regulations, definitely, because it’s an explosive and it should be handled with care, but people are going to go do it. It’s going to happen.”