[goldstategop]

Various costs can eat up your business before you make that first sale. And the government doesn't make easier for small businesspeople to thrive in our economy due to burdensome and costly regulations.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[Coop]

It's unfortunate that government regulations and trail lawyers hassled this young entrepreneur's efforts. But in this particular case the publicity generated will likely make up for any lost time at this fair.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Well thank the nice lawyers. Some stupid kid mighta sucked the marshmallow back through the pipe and choked on it. Then his parents would have sued the city (probably not much to be gained from suing the kid).

[citizen]

Mike Dyer, director of the city-owned Bass Park, where the fair is held, said Tuesday that the shooters were not on the city's "do not insure" list, so he sent it to the city's insurer for approval.

Marshmellow Shooters! Of course these must be bad, they shoot!

Well, folks, the lawyers and busy-body do-gooders screw up another kid's life.

[Moose4]

This is weird. My wife and I have been selling handmade beaded jewelry at craft shows and fairs for six years now (though never at a state fair), and we've NEVER had to pay for insurance. The worst we've had to do is pay for local jurisdiction business licenses, in addition to the booth fee for the space itself (and remitting local/state sales taxes, of course). And we've been around several people selling those marshmallow blowguns at various shows, they're popular items with kids, cheap in materials and easy to make so they're profitable.

Is this a Maine thing, or just particular to this fair perhaps, I wonder.

}:-)4

[stuartcr]

Unfortunately, there are people that probably would shoot themselves in the eye, then sue everyone involved...

[sandbar]

I sell short term even insurance here in Georgia. Instead of getting an annual policy that costs ALOT, he should look into short term trade event coverage. $1200 max.

[Tax-chick]

We have half a dozen of these things around the house, that my husband and sons have made. The real danger is that one of the kids will whomp the other upside the head with the blowgun, after he runs out of marshmallows.

[Gone GF]

"He said that last Friday, the first day of the fair, he made about $700 by selling 70 of the toys for $9.95 apiece."

Vendors at a local festival were selling these for $5 this past weekend.

[TaxRelief]

E-bay!

[TaxRelief]

The elected officials in Bangor, ME are mean-spirited.

[Ron in Acreage]

http://www.toyblowgun.com/index.htm

[InvisibleChurch]

When marshmallows are outlawed.... well, you know the rest.

[Skooz]

Thank you, scum-sucking, sleazoid ambulance-chasing vermin.

[FatherofFive]

Headline: "Bangor Bastards Bust Ben Bustard"

[Gritty]

This kid's in the wrong business if he wants to make money. He needs to become a lawyer.

[Tacis]

My bet is that one (or more) of the kids who bought one at $9.95 quickly learned that the blowguns not only fired little marshmallows, they could fire round sourballs, choclate malt balls, ballbearings, frozen peas or, maybe, paintballs. Sometimes (but not always), local governmental agengies do things that are not irrational.

[HamiltonJay]

$10 for about .60 of PVC pipe and 10 minutes of labor....

Marshmallow Shooters are cool, and you gotta love the profit margin.

[cyclotic]

I had my Cub Scouts make marshmallow shooters last year. It was our best craft ever.

Several bags of mini marshmallows ended up on our back lawn. The birds loved us for weeks after that.

[noexcuses]

We rented kayaks here in Penn Cove...until this year when the insurance rates went up so drastically. What we would have to charge per rental hour makes the cost too dear for most.

Here we are on a beautiful island with a wonderful cove for kayaking and no boat rentals for visitors...