Va. legislature passes novelty lighter ban

Posted to: News Politics State Government Virginia
Login or register to post comments

By Dave Forster
The Virginian-Pilot
© February 28, 2009

RICHMOND

Selling novelty lighters to juveniles will be illegal if Gov. Timothy M. Kaine agrees to sign a bill approved Saturday by the General Assembly.

Del. Algie Howell, D-Norfolk, introduced the legislation when he learned of local fire officials’ concerns over the lighters, which often resemble toys.

His bill, HB2578, would make selling a novelty lighter to anyone under 18 punishable by a fine of up to $100. It also requires stores to keep the lighters out of the reach of children.

The final version passed the Senate 30-10 Saturday after some debate. It has already passed the House of Delegates.

Sen John Watkins, R-Powhatan, wondered how the regulations would be enforced and what impact they'll have on merchants. He said the legislation is "well intentioned," but he criticized it as "nannyism at its highest."

Sen. John Edwards, D-Roanoke, supports the bill as a way to prevent burn injuries to children who may think the lighters are toys.

"Sometimes children need a nanny," he responded to Watkins.

COMMENTS ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here; comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its websites. Users must follow agreed-upon rules: Be civil, be clean, be on topic; don't attack private individuals, other users or classes of people. Read the full rules here.
- Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the report violation link below it.

Gee! It's great to know they're solving the hard problems.

Submitted by moose on Tue, 03/03/2009 at 8:59 pm.

The biggest problem (or joke) to all of this silliness is that they will be re-elected next election. I have voted against the incumbents for the past three election cycles just to try to get rid of the idiots we have in there. When are we going to learn? We should have "citizen politicians" not CAREER politicians. These clowns are so far out of touch with the average citizen they have no clue what is needed.

Just a thought

Submitted by richardm18966 on Sun, 03/01/2009 at 10:46 am.

My latest thought - MY GOVERNMENT IS A JOKE

The citizens of VA should ban Kaine from continuing as Gov.

Submitted by santa on Sat, 02/28/2009 at 10:23 pm.

The citizens of VA should ban Kaine from continuing as Gov.

What about matches?

Submitted by Archie on Sat, 02/28/2009 at 9:59 pm.

When I was well under 18, I was using a paperclip, a small piece of foil and a match to make small rockets which I fired at my little rubber soldiers. Not one house or porch or even bush did I burn down. In case you are wondering, the maximum range for an ordinary match was about 3 to 4 feet.

Having seen firsthand a car

Submitted by notfiveo on Sat, 02/28/2009 at 8:10 pm.

Having seen firsthand a car go up in flames when an un-attended child found a lighter in a car, I would have to say what are these legislaters thinking? Shouldn't they ignore all these minor issues while pursuing more important ones? The childs mothers auto insurance had lapsed just three days prior while her husband was out to sea, otherwise it could have resulted in a new car sale.
As far as the time and effort that goes into some of these laws, some people don't get the fact that they take more time on their posts than legislators take to pass some bills.

There's only one cure...

Submitted by Proud Native on Sat, 02/28/2009 at 6:23 pm.

aalto wrote, "Is this the democrat adgenda?".

Yes. Unfortunately, it's also the Republican agenda. Politicians worry about stuff like this, because some group that supports this triviality may vote against them in the next election.

The ONLY cure for this problem, which has crippled our nation and our economy, is term limits. I've always been against term limits, but now I am convinced that it's the only thing that can save our nation. Nothing else can free our politicians to act in our best interests.

While we're banning things...

Submitted by thanatos on Sat, 02/28/2009 at 5:40 pm.

While we're banning things, can we ban the sale of gasoline to people who use cellphones or text while driving?

Even better, let's ban the sale of automobiles to people who can't drive around a corner without crossing a lane.

We pay for this?

Submitted by aalto on Sat, 02/28/2009 at 5:19 pm.

So we spend millions to elect senators and representatives to spend time in richmond on this? Where is the transportation fix? Where is the budget fix? What about education? We pay them to worry about the trivial stuff?

Is this the democrat adgenda? Is this what they will stand on during re-election?

Just Dandy

Submitted by festerDjester on Sat, 02/28/2009 at 5:14 pm.

Isn't it just dandy that we have the best and brightest looking out for us? I'm surprised the geniuses in Washington D.C didn't beat them to it first.