They recently changed the rules to stop losing money from out of state fireworks purchases.
Now we have even more mortars and other stuff being hurled up into the sky. Most folks didn't want to make the drive for "the good stuff" so it kept it toned down. Now you can get them anywhere so everybody launches them.
I'm guilty of making the drive 1x and bought a bunch of illegal fireworks when my wife graduated college. Went out to her parents house on 50 acres and we had a graduation party and that evening launched a lot of money into the sky with a bang. I had 6, 4'x8' sheets if plywood with mortar tubes screwed down so they wouldn't top over. Each sheet of plywood was packed with mortar tubes.