Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Shutterstock/Satit Pecharut
bow knows toothpicks

Toothpick crossbows are the latest craze in China - and parents are worried

“When the toothpick is swapped for a metal needle it becomes a dangerous weapon,” one newspaper warned.

HANDHELD CROSSBOWS THAT can fire out needles and nails are the latest must-have toy in China – but anxious parents want them banned before a young child gets blinded or worse.

Selling online and in shops for as little as seven yuan (around €1), so-called toothpick crossbows were originally designed to shoot out just that – toothpicks.

But if swapped out for needles they are powerful enough to crack glass, according to the Shanghai Daily newspaper.

The paper quoted shop owners as saying they were selling out of the “toys” fast and struggling to meet demand.

Other Chinese state media said the mini crossbows can fire at a distance of more than 20 metres and shoot iron nails in place of toothpicks.

“The ‘Toothpick Crossbow’ toy has spread across China like wildfire among the nation’s primary and middle school children,” said the Shanghai Daily.

The unusual shooting toy may be very small but it is powerful enough to puncture a balloon and pierce cardboard. And when the toothpick is swapped for a metal needle it becomes a dangerous weapon.

Police in Chengdu, a major city in China’s southwest, have reportedly stopped sales of the product and concerned parents across the country want the government to issue a nationwide ban.

“Hurry up (and ban them), pupils do not understand and are just shooting people for fun. It will cause accidents sooner or later,” one parent wrote on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like website.

Another worried onlooker wrote:

Our primary school began to investigate this from Monday and they’re very dangerous.

© – AFP 2017

Read: Donald Tusk welcomes Ireland’s ‘young, energetic’ new Taoiseach to Brussels >

Read: A ‘hard Brexit’ could hit Ireland’s budget to the tune €500 million over three years >

Your Voice
Readers Comments
25
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.