The U.S. CPSC issued a mandatory recall of nearly 2 million “Auto Fire” toy dart gun sets following the deaths of two children who inhaled the darts and suffocated when the suction cups blocked their airways. The toy dart guns are sold at Family Dollar Stores and are imported from China by Henry Gordy International, Inc.
The retailer is cooperating with the recall although the importer maintains the toy meets federal safety rules. Their attorney insists the toy is not unreasonably dangerous because “there really isn’t any reason for a child to put this plastic dart in their mouth” even though the company has known the toy was deadly for more than three years. The first child death occurred in late 2006 and Gordy was notified in January of 2007.
The CPSC sent a draft recall alert letter to Gordy’s attorney last September, but the company declined to recall the $1.50 toy. Because nearly all recalls are voluntary, the safety commission negotiates the wording of recall alerts with the manufacturers or importers to avoid forcing mandatory recalls which can result in lengthy court battles. Despite lengthy negotiations with Gordy, the importer continued to refuse to recall the toy so the CPSC turned to the retailer Family Dollar who voluntarily stopped selling it in January 2009.
This recall and one involving a different suction cup dart toy imported by OKK Trading Inc. which was linked to the 2007 death of a child in Texas has caused consumer advocates and toy industry officials to rethink their position regarding choking hazards in children older than three years of age. Rules generally are written with the idea that children over the age of 3 don’t put toys in their mouths.The committee that sets toy safety standards will now study which toys older kids put in their mouths. In the meantime, parents should immediately discard the Auto Fire toy gun dart sets and make sure their children stay away from any short, pliable toy darts with a suction cup end.
Richard J. Arsenault, 2011
