Gov. Mark Dayton vetoed a bill Saturday that would allow Minnesotans to buy and set off a wider array of fireworks, citing concerns from public safety officials and hospital workers.

The bill would have legalized aerial fireworks and other more powerful explosives than sparklers and lower-grade fireworks currently permitted by law.

Supporters argue people are buying them in Wisconsin and other border states and using them anyway. And Minnesota just loses out on the revenue generated from firework sales.

Opponents like firefighters and emergency room doctors say allowing more high-powered fireworks is dangerous and can cause serious injury when used improperly.

“Most Minnesotans are responsible enough to ignite and explode those inherently dangerous devices properly and safely,” Dayton said in his veto letter “Unfortunately, some are not.”

The bill had momentum leading up to Dayton’s desk.

“It passed convincingly in the Senate,” Sen. Dan Sparks, DFL-Austin, who supported the bill, said earlier this month. The vote was 48-17.

Rep. Jeanne Poppe, DFL-Austin, and Rep. Rich Murray, R-Albert Lea, voted in favor of the bill when it passed 77-50.

Dayton said the injury and property damage statistics are telling. Since 2002, when Minnesota legalized some nonaerial and nonexplosive fireworks, injuries in the two-week period around the Fourth of July increased 110 percent. Property lost to firework damage increased by 500 percent.

“Government has the responsibility to do its utmost to protect vulnerable young Minnesotans, courageous firefighters and police officers,” Dayton said. Both they and bystanders could become victims of someone else’s carelessness, he said.

—The Associated Press contributed to this report.