Peter V. Kunz, one of Switzerland's best known scholars of economic law, is campaigning for the fireworks initiative as president of the Swiss Animal Protection society. His stance surprises some who know him as a defender of liberal market principles, and he addresses that tension head on. In his reading, liberalism is not a blank cheque, and where demonstrable harm exists the state may step in. Fireworks, he argues, produce exactly that harm, terrifying pets and wildlife alike, with farm animals also caught in the chaos. His own framing is blunt: where animals are left injured and panicked, they come before the celebration. Critics warn of a paternalist state and the loss of a tradition, but Kunz insists that shielding animals from avoidable suffering is a liberal position too. The dispute now heads toward the ballot, with his name giving the animal welfare camp an advocate from the heart of the country's economic establishment.