Should all furniture items be restricted to 10lbs/4.5kg?

[Galloism]

It's come to my attention that roughly 29 people in the United States per year are killed by falling furniture, even more than terrorists! Many of the victims are children and the elderly. These furniture builders have blood on their hands for all the people they've killed. We need to take immediate steps to correct all these deaths from furniture.

Here's a source for your perusal.

Over 40,000 hospital visits per year are due to falling furniture, causing a drain on our economy due to all these falling-furniture related injuries and deaths.

So, I propose the following changes:

Restrict all furniture pieces to 10 pounds at a maximum, once fully assembled in all parts under which is customarily held. For instance, on a bed, it would include the weight of the mattress, box spring, frame, and headboard (if all are used consistently).

Furniture, plus the things it is holding (other than beds), should be restricted to 15 pounds. There will be periodic mandatory in-home inspections to ensure furniture owners are not overloading their furniture where it can cause a danger to themselves and others. We can establish a federal agency with broad authority to enter homes and weigh furniture and its contents at any time of day or night.

This agency can also weigh individual furniture pieces as they come off the production line to ensure they consistently weigh less than 10 pounds.

We foster the development of carbon-nanotube furniture, and gradually move towards making that mandatory. Government subsidies can be used to help the poor buy furniture.

Given the special danger of televisions (they make up the vast majority of deaths), I suggest televisions over 13 inches be banned unless it can be made in such a way that it weighs less than 5 pounds.

What say ye, NSG?

[Ciliath]

This is a satire, and a damn good one at that.

[Tokuopolis]

I thought you meant making them cost £10 maximum. What a world that would be!

[Qanchia]

Not feasible, as some furniture costs more than £10 to make.

[Empire of Donner land]

Fucking chairs killed my great grandmother.

#MakeFurnitureLoseWeight

[Rock Lobsters]

I don't know how you can make Washing Machines, Stoves, or Fridges less then 10 pounds. Or Beds for that matter.

[Galloism]

Not feasible, as some furniture costs more than £10 to make.

I thought you meant making them cost £10 maximum. What a world that would be!

Fixed the title for more clarity.

[Valystria]

An interesting proposition, one that would certainly spur research and development of lighter manufacturing materials. Lighter consumer products would be a boon to society.

[Ostroeuropa]

I think the regulation may have merit, but periodic mandatory inspections is unnecessary. Simply make it so the owner is at fault if someone is injured by their furniture and that furniture weighs above 10 pounds.

[The Serbian Empire]

How are we going to make it light enough for heavy objects. Even more baffling is how to make it strong enough to hold up 400 pound Big Bertha.

[Rock Lobsters]

How are we going to make it light enough for heavy objects. Even more baffling is how to make it strong enough to hold up 400 pound Big Bertha.

Simple, we put Big Bertha on a diet and give her liposuction to make her Petite-Bertha.

[Vassenor]

Yeah, how do you intend to ensure structural stability under conditions of heavy load?

[Galloism]

Yeah, how do you intend to ensure structural stability under conditions of heavy load?

Heavy loads are part of the problem. Themselves, they would be illegal.

[Galloism]

I think the regulation may have merit, but periodic mandatory inspections is unnecessary. Simply make it so the owner is at fault if someone is injured by their furniture and that furniture weighs above 10 pounds.

That's insufficient. Without periodic random inspections, people will still be injured and killed by furniture that's outside regulation.

We can't put a price on public safety.

[Polar Svalbard]

Yeah, how do you intend to ensure structural stability under conditions of heavy load?

Heavy loads are part of the problem. Themselves, they would be illegal.

So... wait, that would mean that people can't sit on them. If we're going this route wouldn't it be easier to just ban almost all furniture and sit around on pillows?

[Shan Yue]

It would be easier to insulate our clothing with bubble wrap. We would walk and sound funny, but have some protection against our decor and appliances without radically impacting the forms of home furnishing.

[Great Nepal]

I was 99% certain this was another of IM's thread...
What kind of mushrooms did you have for Christmas dinner, Galloism?

[Galloism]

Heavy loads are part of the problem. Themselves, they would be illegal.

So... wait, that would mean that people can't sit on them. If we're going this route wouldn't it be easier to just ban almost all furniture and sit around on pillows?

That's a good point - pushing a more japanese style would be more efficient and safer.

[Valystria]

I think the regulation may have merit, but periodic mandatory inspections is unnecessary. Simply make it so the owner is at fault if someone is injured by their furniture and that furniture weighs above 10 pounds.

That's insufficient. Without periodic random inspections, people will still be injured and killed by furniture that's outside regulation.

We can't put a price on public safety.

Actually;

Furniture, plus the things it is holding (other than beds), should be restricted to 15 pounds. There will be periodic mandatory in-home inspections to ensure furniture owners are not overloading their furniture where it can cause a danger to themselves and others. We can establish a federal agency with broad authority to enter homes and weigh furniture and its contents at any time of day or night.

These random home inspections would carry immense secondary benefits to society. No longer would people casually leave their apartments or homes in a mess, as they wouldn't want to risk having the mess seen during an unexpected inspection. Parents would raise their children more appropriately knowing that at any moment a home inspector could show up. We would all live our lives better knowing that home inspectors will periodically show up to ensure our furniture remains within regulatory limits.

[Washington Resistance Army]

I was 99% certain this was another of IM's thread...
What kind of mushrooms did you have for Christmas dinner, Galloism?

The infected kind

I fully support this proposition.

[Saiwania]

I don't know how you can make Washing Machines, Stoves, or Fridges less then 10 pounds. Or Beds for that matter.

It simply can't be done, unless you try to make it out of a material that simply won't be durable such as Styrofoam or cardboard.

[Polar Svalbard]

So... wait, that would mean that people can't sit on them. If we're going this route wouldn't it be easier to just ban almost all furniture and sit around on pillows?

That's a good point - pushing a more japanese style would be more efficient and safer.

But then we have to worry about Godzilla attacks, or more likely, men in rubber suit attacks

[Galloism]

It would be easier to insulate our clothing with bubble wrap. We would walk and sound funny, but have some protection against our decor and appliances without radically impacting the forms of home furnishing.

This could be done as an additional form of protection. I will consider your proposal as an adjunct to mine.

[Kannap]

Why stop there? I say we should ban furniture altogether. Also, as a person who is allergic to Penicillin - which causes 399 deaths per year in the United States - I vote that we also ban Penicillin.

[Polar Svalbard]

I don't know how you can make Washing Machines, Stoves, or Fridges less then 10 pounds. Or Beds for that matter.

It simply can't be done, unless you try to make it out of a material that simply won't be durable such as Styrofoam or cardboard.

Carbon FIber