There is no doubt that lighters offer a valuable service in our day-to-day lives. It generates flame that could be used to ignite materials like gas stoves allowing you to have something to eat, burning pieces of wood for bonfires making you feel warmth, torching candles as an alternative to the power outage at night, and flaming of cigarettes in the pleasure of someone’s vice habit.
Reality slaps that lighter is a life’s necessity, and no one would ever dare to live without it. However, nowadays, it remains controversial if there should have an age requirement to buy lighters or matches. What’s wrong if a child buys it? Would it make someone underage a criminal? This article highlights vital aspects of buying lighters or matches that you should be aware of. So, continue reading to learn more!
How old do you have to be to buy lighters?
There is no upper age limit for purchasing a lighter. However, suppose you’re under the age of 18. In that case, retailers will almost certainly refuse to sell you a lighter or matches due to their own store’s policy unless you have had presented parental consent.
Nonetheless, to ensure that sellers have nothing to go against selling you the item, make sure you’re at least 18 years old, which is the starting point of adolescents. However, most shops do not have the time to verify your identity before handling the product due to the large volume of buyers.
Furthermore, if you’re a student below 18 years old who have been caught with a lighter in your pocket or purse, school staff and administration might be wondering why did you have it. It will give you an impression of being a smoker that violates the rules and regulations of maintaining a smoke-free school zone. You may face campus service for several weeks or be billed with a certain amount of penalty. You might end up being chastised, mocked, and bullied by your fellow students too. Worst, if your parents are summoned to the guidance office, the institution has strictly not tolerated such behavior.
There is a recurring stereotype that children are reckless. Thus, they are formidable to buy fire-inclined goods. However, according to the International Classification of Human Ages, children or kids fall between 0 and 12 years old.
Can kids buy lighters?
Yes, kids can buy lighters. Of course, ages 0-3 have rare possibilities in buying lighters or matches. Meanwhile, they can purchase lighters for ages 4 to 12 since no laws prohibit age restrictions from buying such combustible items. Anyone is allowed to.
However, companies, suppliers, or retailers don’t hold any liabilities when hazardous phenomena take place made by the kids. They are not obliged to face the damage in properties and loss of lives when the lighters or matches were the causes of sudden fires at homes or communities. Kids cannot be blamed for this hazard since they aren’t competent enough to understand the dangers of using lighters. They think that it is a toy that is fun to play with. Hence, under this consideration, kids can buy lighters if and only if they have their parents’ approval and already have enough background knowledge of the lighters’ sole purpose to avoid large-scale accidents and injuries like the burning of skin and hair.
Is it legal to sell lighters to minors?
Yes, it is legal to sell lighters to minors. No law bans the selling of lighters to minors. There is no incident yet of reporting children being jailed just because of buying lighters.
Therefore, it is legal to make a transaction of buying and selling lighters regardless of age. Some instances taken by the store’s policy of keeping minors to buy lighters aim to prioritize preventive measures, not because it’s illegal.
Butane
Butane is a member of the paraffin series of hydrocarbons. It is non-polar, characterized by its high heat of combustion containing various dangerous chemicals. It is mainly used as fuel for cigarette lighters and gas stoves and is found in Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). Given these butane functions, others still get puzzled if there’s a minimum age quota to buy such a product.
In contrast to the purchase of lighters, which does not have a specified minimum age to buy, the purchase of butane is only permitted to those 18 years old or older.
How old do you have to be to buy butane?
It would help if you were at least 18 years old to buy butane. It is illegal to sell substances to persons under 18 as they may likely inhale or sniff it in the belief that it increases their mood or behavior.
If sellers are caught selling butane-containing cigarette lighter refill canisters to youngsters, they may be charged with a criminal offense. To verify the legitimacy of buyers, sellers should ask for proof of their identities, such as valid ID, age card, or any other document that indicates their birth or age.
How old do you have to be to buy matches?
Same as with the lighters, there is no required age to purchase matches. But, in return, elders must be responsible enough in paying attention to their children if they’re playing with the matchsticks.
It should be placed where kids can’t reach for safety standards. In addition, it’s also significant to have in mind that sellers may refuse to sell matches to people under 18 years old according to the store’s policies.
After leaving Wells Fargo Bank in 2014, Daniel began a career as a finance consultant, advising companies and individuals on economic policy, labor relations, and financial management.
At Promtfinance.com, Daniel writes about personal finance topics, value estimation, budgeting strategies, retirement planning, and portfolio diversification.
Read more on Daniel Smith's biography page.
Contact Daniel: daniel@promtfinance.com