KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- QuikTrip Corp. stores is responding to a campaign by firefighters in Johnson County, Kansas, to prevent children obtaining lighters and matches.
The Tulsa, Okla.-based convenience store chain is changing company policy at its 74 stores in the Kansas City metropolitan area, reported KMBC-TV.
Firefighters said some lighters on the market may look like toys.
"It's totally legal for someone to sell matches and lighters to any age," Tricia Roberts of the Overland Park Fire Department told [image-nocss] the news outlet.
The procedure will be similar to what it is with tobacco: You have to be 18 or older to purchase a lighter or matches or to get matches in any way," QuikTrip division manager Timothy Heuback told KMBC.
He said clerks were not selling to small children before, but in cases where age is a question, ID will now be required.
"We thought it was a good idea. We thought it was the right thing to do within our community and to support our store employees, a cause that comes up from time to time with them as well," Heuback said.
The 18-and-over policy is in effect in both Missouri and Kansas, said the report. QuikTrip will reportedly also do the same in Tulsa, Okla., and Springfield, Mo.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.