So long story short. Because I guess it’s just to much to keep flashy novelty lighters out of the hand of children becasue their parents must be smoking meth and not watching what their kids are doing this is the solution according to one Lawmaker. Sometimes I wonder how may laws it takes before you can be just absolutly absolved of all responsibility. Here’s a snippit of the story from a Missouri paper.
It has all the makings of a holiday toy: a miniature Santa Claus that lights up, chuckles “Ho, ho, ho” and sings a Christmas carol.
But there’s a catch: To activate those cool features, a person has to flick the lighter switch and spark a flame. And that is why there’s an effort to ban it, along with other novelty lighters.
State Rep. Ed Wildberger, a Democrat from St. Joseph and a former firefighter, has pre-filed a bill that would make it illegal to sell novelty lighters in Missouri. The proposed law would specifically prohibit lighters that look like cartoon characters, animals, vehicles or food products. Lighters that play music or have flashing lights also would be outlawed.
Fire groups across the country support such a ban because the entertaining lighters pose a risk to children. “One of the things that concerns us about novelty lighters is they look like toys, and that causes children to treat them as toys, increasing the potential for accidental fires to start,” said Battalion Chief Gale Blomenkamp of the Boone County Fire Protection District. “When you see a lighter that looks like a football or a toy, kids are going to be more apt to play with them.”
