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Senate votes to ban novelty lighters
Submitted by bniolet on 2009-04-16 12:41
The Senate approved a bill that would ban the sale of most novelty lighters.
Sen. Austin Allran, a Hickory Republican and sponsor of the bill, brought a box of the lighters to show his Senate colleages why children would be drawn to the fire.
He brandished a lighter that resembles the Disney character "Nemo." The flame comes out of the fish's mouth when you depress the back fin.
"They're very entertaining but they're also very dangerous," Allran said.
Allran also displayed lighters that looked like a deck of cards, an astronaut, a fishing rod, a cell phone and a miniature shotgun. All were made in China and none comply with child safety standards.
In 2006, a North Carolina child suffered second degree burns while playing with a lighter that looked like a cell phone, Allran said.
Sen. David Hoyle, a Gastonia Democrat, said that the bill would leave convenience stores stuck with boxes of lighters they could no longer sell. Ultimately, he said, parents need to be responsible for keeping lighters away from children.
"Somewhere along the way, somebody's got to take some personal responsibility," Hoyle said.
The bill easily passed the Senate Thursday and next moves to the House.
After the Senate adjourned, one of Dome's press corps colleagues nearly burned herself on the astronaut lighter.
