Just as I started typing this column about banning fireworks, the sharp bang of an explosion rang out.

It's about 9pm on a Sunday evening so no good reason for the city centre to be reverberating with the sound of rockets. I mean, it's not unusual for the sound of rockets in the city centre of an evening, but I specifically mean fireworks here.

There are strict limits to when fireworks can be set off in Glasgow yet these are roundly ignored in the run up to November 5.

It's as though all the pent up energy during the rest of the year is expended with the letting off of fireworks.

There's something quite odd about the period around Bonfire Night and on the night itself.

Young people who would otherwise behave themselves go crazy with fire and explosions.

A fire fighter I spoke to said that on no other night of the year do crews face abuse and attacks like they do on Guy Fawkes night.

The dark nights and the bright spark of the fireworks seem to release the baser instincts of a minority of people

Those who spend the rest of the year keeping a lid on their negative behaviour, who follow society's rules but find it a struggle to do so.

One firework seller quoted this week said the most popular selling fireworks he has are called Beat Thy Neighbour and Neighbour From Hell - it says a lot.

Then, each year, there's talk of witches and goblins, of masks and disguises. The dark night comes early and next thing you know people are being terrorised in the streets.

READ MORE: Cops promise firework crackdown as Pollokshields ringleaders rounded up

At a meeting of Pollokshields Community Council last week a woman brought along a little show and tell.

She had been out walking her dog and found two industrial fireworks lying in her street. Against her better judgement - wiser to leave them where they are and phone 101 - she brought them along to the meeting to show everyone else what these brutes are like.

It caused quite a stir, and rightly. One of them, called Savage, lets off dozens of fireworks from the one container. The risk to anyone who gets in its path when it explodes is considerable.

Last year in the run up to Bonfire Night the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service was called out 400 times a week with 338 fires on November 5 itself.

It is a huge use of resources to cover this and ensure the safety of everyone else during routine calls outs.

Pollokshields Community Council was meeting to find out more about a plan to keep local residents safe on Bonfire Night after a horrifying evening of trouble last year during which masked men set off industrial fireworks in the community, shot fireworks at police officers who were trying to calm trouble, and injured a young child when a firework was thrown into a close.

This year the Scottish Government launched a consultation into introducing stricter controls for fireworks. A ban is in the gift of Westminster - the powers are not devolved to Scotland - but Holyrood can crack down on their sale and use here.

The results were overwhelming. More than 16,000 people responded to the consultation, which found strong support for tougher regulations on their sale and use.

More than 70 per cent of people who responded to a YouGov survey said they had been affected by irresponsible and unsafe fireworks use. 58 per cent backed a ban while 71 per cent supported tighter restrictions on their sale.

Sainsbury's has already bent to public opinion and became the first major British retailer to ban the sale of fireworks from its stores. The supermarket, among other things, cited pet safety.

Any pet owner will tell you of the stress of fireworks on animals. As well as terrified dogs and cats, wild animals have been known to try to flee at the sound of explosions and become tangled in barbed wire; birds will fly into power lines trying to escape.

It's not only animals who have had enough of fireworks, as the results of the government consultation show.

Yes, the government could introduce tighter restrictions - such as reducing sales to one week of the year or introducing a Challenge 25 style scheme - but an outright ban on private purchases seems the most sensible option with little argument for continuing to allow the sale of explosives.

Australia banned fireworks in the 1980s and it spelled the death of Cracker Night. Would that happen here? No. There enough public displays that fans of fireworks are amply catered for. A ban on private sale would make communities safer while also allowing for the enjoyment of spectacular public events.

I adore fireworks but they cause misery and harm to too many to allow the Bonfire Night anarchy to continue.