Vendors in Douglas County are willing to stop selling certain types of fireworks to avoid a total ban on sales.

But the compromise proposal, unveiled this week by the Douglas County Fireworks Assn., puts more emphasis on a public-education campaign about safe fireworks use.

“Educating the public is the main thing that needs to happen,” said Gary Bartz, co-chairman of the association, which represents 14 vendors.

It remains unclear if the Lawrence City Commission is ready to accept a compromise or if it will pursue full prohibition.

Two commissioners said Wednesday that they favored a ban, two said they favored new restrictions short of a ban and one  Mayor Sue Hack  said she still hadn’t decided.

“The vendors have made some concessions in terms of the kinds of fireworks they will not sell and the safety instruction they will give,” she said. “I’m pleased to see that.

But, Hack said: “I don’t know if you can compromise on safety. If we still allow fireworks, there’s still the issue of safety.”

The city currently allows fireworks select hours three days a year, July 2-4. Sales inside city limits are prohibited, but they flourish in the unincorporated parts of Douglas County, and city residents can store their own fireworks if done in accordance with safety codes.

After a fireworks-related apartment fire in 2001, city commissioners began considering a possible ban. City officials also have complained about trash from fireworks left on streets and in parks after the holiday.

The Douglas County Fireworks Assn. was formed in response to the threatened ban. Under its proposal, venders would stop selling rockets and propeller-driven fireworks.

“These are the items I think one neighbor might not want another neighbor to be shooting,” Bartz said.

Roman candles and “star-spangled cannons,” tubes from which charges fire into the air before bursting, would still be sold.

Lawrence resident Patricia Sinclair, a backer of a fireworks ban, said the vendors’ offer didn’t go far enough. She’s angry commissioners haven’t already banned all fireworks.

“There’s a lot of money here at stake,” Sinclair said. “This is business trying to manipulate the political system of ours.”

Hack said it was appropriate to seek information from all corners of the community. She said her primary concern would be the safety of Lawrence residents, as well as the police officers and firefighters who respond to any fireworks-related fire.

Sinclair said safety should trump all other concerns.

“Shame on them if they don’t pass it,” she said of commissioners. “If they don’t have a ban next Fourth of July and there’s a fire that results in loss of life, I’ll personally go plant a sign in the yards of the commissioners who vote against it.”

The sign, she said, would say, “killer.”