Is it possible that anti-single cell Li Ion battery legislation could be passed?

Recently I watched a news program that actually showed Li Ion batteries "venting with flame". There was quite a lot of flame! Granted, that involved one of these models of electric scooter-skateboard things, but there is also a lawsuit being filed against a local vape shop as a result of a "venting with flame" occurrence, after a user stored at least 1 or more unprotected 18650s in his front pocket and suffered 2nd degree burns on his leg. It was in our local paper.

You know how politicians often tend to overreact to seemingly insignificant numbers of 'victims' of incidents that caused some harm to the victim. There is regulation being crafted that will likely put vape shops out of business because of uncertainty surrounding whether vaping is healthy or not. It seems that regulation may be a result of big tobacco lobbyists trying to get back their monopoly on nicotine delivery 'systems'.

So, it wouldn't take many instances of poor battery handling, leading to injury, before an overzealous politician decides to overreact. Does anyone see this as a possibility?

No, billions of things use lithium batteries.
They're already tightening regulations with higher import costs and special UN38.3 testing before transportation.
A lot of shipping companies also charge higher costs for transfer, only transfer by ground/boat, or don't transfer lithium at all.
If anything lithium batteries will get more expensive, but they definitely won't be restricted.

Enderman said:

No, billions of things use lithium batteries.
They're already tightening regulations with higher import costs and special UN38.3 testing before transportation.
A lot of shipping companies also charge higher costs for transfer, only transfer by ground/boat, or don't transfer lithium at all.
If anything lithium batteries will get more expensive, but they definitely won't be restricted.

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I realize that Li Ion battery packs won't be restricted, my thread was primarily focused on single cell Li Ion batteries being sold without protection.

Protection is not going to prevent batteries from catching fire.
It just prevents them from being overcharged/discharged.
Lithium batteries can explode or catch fire in more than just those two ways :/

Enderman said:

Protection is not going to prevent batteries from catching fire.
It just prevents them from being overcharged/discharged.
Lithium batteries can explode or catch fire in more than just those two ways :/

Click to expand...

Many PTC's also protect against over temperature, over current, and short circuit.

But there are a lot of, let us just say, "underinformed' users out there, many of whom use unprotected and sometimes high current cells. Personally, I can't see how someone can put one or more naked cells in a pocket or purse and not expect bad things to happen.

I don't think an outright ban could ever get passed, but there is an outside chance that they could be over-regulated, such as having to prove having taken a proper care and handling class with associated documentation before being able to purchase. That would make online purchasing very interesting, especially from foreign sellers.

It says on most cells: do not short-circuit. I can see that being a requirement, as well as possibly having to inform users at the point of sale of the risks associated with lithium cells and how to handle them. If users then choose to ignore the warnings, they can't blame anyone else.