{"id":403,"date":"2023-10-24T03:58:41","date_gmt":"2023-10-23T19:58:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/2023\/10\/24\/toothpick-crossbows-banned-by-chinese-city-amid-child-safe\/"},"modified":"2024-05-09T13:03:01","modified_gmt":"2024-05-09T05:03:01","slug":"toothpick-crossbows-banned-by-chinese-city-amid-child-safe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/toothpick-crossbows-banned-by-chinese-city-amid-child-safe\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Toothpick Crossbows\u2019 Banned By Chinese City Amid Child Safe"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p>A city in western China has banned the sale of the latest fad among some Chinese schoolchildren \u2013 toothpick crossbows, state media reported.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>A city in western China has banned the sale of the latest fad among some Chinese schoolchildren \u2013 toothpick crossbows, state media reported.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"> <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"1.png\" style=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/Fr5TLqCW6mIrKzpQzgeCTAQ8FNGj?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" width=\"600\" height=\"330.10033444816054\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_73 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-5'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/toothpick-crossbows-banned-by-chinese-city-amid-child-safe\/#A_toothpick_crossbow_mounted_on_a_stand_Photo_Handout\" title=\"A toothpick crossbow mounted on a stand. Photo: Handout\">A toothpick crossbow mounted on a stand. Photo: Handout<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-5'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/toothpick-crossbows-banned-by-chinese-city-amid-child-safe\/#Photo_Handout\" title=\"Photo: Handout\">Photo: Handout<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-5'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/toothpick-crossbows-banned-by-chinese-city-amid-child-safe\/#Toothpick_crossbows_on_sale_online_Photo_Handout\" title=\"Toothpick crossbows on sale online. Photo: Handout\">Toothpick crossbows on sale online. Photo: Handout<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h5><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"A_toothpick_crossbow_mounted_on_a_stand_Photo_Handout\"><\/span>A toothpick crossbow mounted on a stand. Photo: Handout<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h5>\n<hr>\n<p>The ban has been enforced in Chengdu in Sichuan province amid concerns about the safety of the \u201ctoys\u201d, the state broadcaster CCTV reported on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>Parents have expressed fears that the tiny crossbows could cause serious injuries, the&nbsp;Shanghai Daily&nbsp;reported.<\/p>\n<p>The crossbows \u2014 which fire toothpicks and can fit in one hand \u2013 are readily available from sellers online or in toyshops, the newspaper said.<\/p>\n<p>Small plastic crossbows sell on the streets of Chengdu in Sichuan province for four yuan (58 US cents) and metal ones for 10 yuan, according to the Chinese news website&nbsp;Cover News.<\/p>\n<p>Packaging on one of the products claimed it is powerful enough to \u201cbreak paper cartons, cans and even fight cockroaches\u201d, with the caveat that it is \u201cnot lethal\u201d. Another is in a box that indicates it is for children aged five or older.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"2.png\" style=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/FjidzC1GP9kvhgqe9YerDl4gt6sM?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" width=\"598\" height=\"349.7978494623656\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<h5><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Photo_Handout\"><\/span>Photo: Handout<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h5>\n<hr>\n<p>Cover News&nbsp;found several people selling \u201ctoothpick crossbows\u201d near primary schools on Monday in Chengdu, with one indicating that sales were \u201creally good\u201d and that the products were almost out of stock.<\/p>\n<p>But vendors warned about the dangers of the toys, saying: \u201cWhen playing [with the crossbows], don\u2019t aim them at people or animals, as it could hurt people within a four metre range.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In tests by local reporters, toothpicks fired at a close range sank 1.5 cm into an apple.<\/p>\n<p>Within a three metre range, the fired toothpicks easily burst balloons and penetrated paper cups. The effects were magnified when wooden toothpicks were replaced with metal ones.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"3.png\" style=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/Fh-EVVq3TZP1K_bpQeyvMUBw5g8J?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" width=\"598\" height=\"356.52431289640595\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<h5><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Toothpick_crossbows_on_sale_online_Photo_Handout\"><\/span>Toothpick crossbows on sale online. Photo: Handout<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h5>\n<hr>\n<p>One father in Chengdu, who was not named, told&nbsp;Cover News: \u201cThese are weapons, used in ancient times as weapons of war, and are now being given to children to play with. It\u2019s like taking a model gun to school.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Internet users were also wary of giving the \u201ctoys\u201d to children.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShould be forbidden. Sooner or later this kind of thing will cause an accident,\u201d one commenter said.<\/p>\n<p>Another wrote: \u201cIs the person who designed this crazy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But some defended the product, with one saying: \u201cIt\u2019s just a children\u2019s toy, much ado about nothing. Aren\u2019t knives more dangerous than this?\u201d<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"GIC.jpg\" style=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/FlXXlKXBxtykYAuKbjvAxKMwIbVH?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A city in western China has banned the sale of the latest fad among some Chinese schoolchildren \u2013 toothpick crossbows, state media reported. A city in western China has banned &#8230;","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[353],"class_list":["post-403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-e-china-cities"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7759,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403\/revisions\/7759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}