8/26/2008 10:06:00 PM Editorial: Parents must act to keep lighters out of kids' hands
The Daily Courier
Decades ago children played "war" with toy guns that looked real. In the '80s the government forced manufacturers to produce the toy guns in green or orange colors, so police officers could see the difference when facing an alleged gunman.
That's the theory the National Volunteer Fire Council and local authorities support in restricting novelty lighter sales. Take it one step further though - children should not be playing with lighters anyway.
"We have a national epidemic of these toy lighters and adults can't even tell the difference between the lighter and a toy," Central Yavapai Fire District Assistant Fire Chief Charlie Cook said, referring to, for example, a roller skate lighter that has colorful lights on its wheels, a cell phone lighter that has a ring tone, and a flashlight that has a light on one end and a lighter on the other.
Children love toys and these kinds, which hold danger inside of them, come in many varieties. Cook found 20 different models at a local indoor swap meet recently. (Visit dCourier.com for a story and video on the subject.)
"Adults will buy these as gifts for kids not realizing that they are lighters," said Eric Kriwer, public information officer for Prescott Fire Department.
Sadly we have to protect children from people out to make a buck by producing a toy that is dangerous. Even sadder is the fact that sometimes we must protect children from their parents.
Be smart and don't wait for the government to restrict or ban these lighters.
"There is no positive outcome for having a toy lighter in the hands of children," Kriwer said.
Posted: Sunday, August 31, 2008
Article comment by:
JonSE
Nanny state, nanny state, nanny state, nanny state, ad infinitum. Lock up every one. Put them in straight jackets and padded cells. That will ensure that that no one will be injured in any way.
Posted: Thursday, August 28, 2008
Article comment by:
tongue-in-cheek
You are right again PU's: The obligation of parents is to pop them little rug rats into the world and then let the GOVERNMENT raise them and protect them. God forbid, a homelife would get in the way of a Village trying to raise and protect these little critters.
Posted: Thursday, August 28, 2008
Article comment by:
party crasher
Gosh you're right. A democrat has never been indicted, charged, or jailed for anything. They didn't have anything to do with jobs going over seas, deal with terrorists, sell out to tobacco or toy companies. Ofcourse you wouldn't hear about it anyway since liberals control the media. Try paying attention to person and not blind loyal party pollitics.
Posted: Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Article comment by:
PU's
What a hypocritical article given your extremist Republican slant. Kids playing with dangerous lighters, lead toys, machine guns, etc. are a logical extension of your extreme anti-regulatory policies. I bet 99.99% of these lighters are made in China. That means cheap pot metal filled with lead and cheap lead paint. Not only are these lighters dangerous because kids could start a fire with them, but I am willing to bet they are dangerous from a metabolic standpoint. If these products were required to pass real safety and quality tests before they were imported, they would likely not be profitable and fewer of them would be created and sold. Democrats tried to give the Consumer Product Safety Commission more money to actually do their job and regulate dangerous products, and the Republican head of the Commission (Nancy Nord) actually begged Congress NOT to fund her agency because she didn't want to regulate Chinese imports. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/30/washington/30consumer.html
Good luck with your man Renzi. How's the criminal defense fund coming along? How much have you donated?
