Posted on 02/17/2008 4:21:39 PM PST by gondramB
DES MOINES, Iowa - The cartoonish plastic frog with bulging eyes could be a children's toy — but for the torch-like flame that bursts from the novelty lighter's head.
"They look like something you would get in a McDonald's Happy Meal," said John Dean, president of the National Association of State Fire Marshals, who often shows off the device. "They're cute, they're little" — but they can be deadly.
Dean's group is backing an effort to ban novelty lighters across the country, and a handful of states are considering it. In California, Washington and Arkansas, local ordinances have been passed to keep the lighters off store shelves.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Its not that I don't see their point. And I remember the uproar over a Bevis and Butthead episode where they flick a lighter near drapes and say "fire is fun" that got copied fatally.
But it just seems like these things never work out the way its intended.
I bought a pig lighter that shot flame out of its nostrils, but only for a few days. Real players-with-fire prefer the reliability of the old “strike anywhere” match. My aunt used to tell me that if I played with fire I would wet the bed. My wife doesn’t like it, 50 years later!
First a step-by-step tobacco ban, then a lighter ban.
I love America; the land of the free and home of the brave.
I bought one for my sis. She loves it. You just pull back on his hat and the flames come out.
We have one of those in the BBQ lighter version.
We call it, “Flame Pig” and sing the “Slim Pig” theme song every time we light it.
If this is what we’ve come to, so be it.
That is just about too cute for words.
I suppose that lighter that looked like a pistol is histoire now.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.