could you tell the difference between fireworks and bombs going off?

Yes, easily. Fireworks seem loud, but they don't compare to an actual bomb blast. When you have been near a bomb blast, you know right away that it's something much bigger than any fireworks, including professional grade fireworks. Much different boom.

Yes, you could tell if we were being bombed while a fireworks celebration is happening. The explosions a bomb makes are hundreds of times more powerful than a half ounce of black powder mixed with sulfur and/or colored phosphorus and sand/pebbles. Fireworks won't blow out your windows or create craters in roads unless it's a fireworks warehouse that goes up in a blaze of glory.

The average bomb has over 15% explosives in its casing. Some, like C-4, Comp B, and others use a paper casing and are literally ALL explosive. Others, like our HEI explosives are encased in metal and can have as much as 33%-50% of its total weight consisting of explosives. In the case or our air dropped ordnances, this amounts to anywhere between 150-1000 lbs or more of explosive material. That's "a bit" more than a few ounces, don't ya think?

Besides, with all the other knuckleheads out and about firing guns off in celebrations all over the country, choosing to target this great nation during Independence Day would be a failed experiment. Too many eyes and ears connected to patriotic brains with a sense of honor, duty, and commitment to protecting this land who are most likely experienced shooters and/or experienced at killing terrorists tells me that this is the reason why we've never been attacked on July 4th. Anyone trying to attack us during this week would likely end miserably for them.

Solid point.