JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The plastic frog is just the right size to fit into a toddler’s hands, and it even makes a froggy noise.

    The tiny contraption that looks like a digital camera comes complete with flashing lights.

    The little guitar? It’s the kind of thing that would attract a preteen ‘‘Hannah Montana’’ fan, and it’s not obvious that the pretend instrument might produce a flame.

    But these are all cigarette lighters. Mississippi firefighters and state Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney are asking lawmakers to restrict the sale of such novelty lighters because they believe the devices endanger children’s safety.

    ‘‘Obviously, they’re geared to children. You don’t have to be a genius to know that,’’ said Democratic Rep. Bob Evans of Monticello, looking at a group of novelty lighters collected by the state’s chief deputy fire marshal and the head of the Mississippi Firefighters Association.

    Evans and Republican Sen. Videt Carmichael of Meridian have filed bills this year that would ban the sale and distribution of novelty lighters in Mississippi — a step already taken by at least 13 other states. The bills would make it a misdemeanor punishable by up to $150 per item for the sale and distribution of such lighters.

    ‘‘We can take a typical cigarette lighter or a box of matches. You can show them to children and say, ’This is bad. This is bad,’’’ said Mississippi Firefighters Association president Jeff Homan.

    ‘‘But there’s no way I can say, ’Now, the little green frog, you can’t play with.’ Because 99 percent of the little green frogs are fine. This looks like something that can come in a meal as a toy.’’

    Ricky Davis, Mississippi’s chief deputy fire marshal, said that in the past few years, he has investigated five fatal fires started by novelty lighters. Davis said he didn’t have comparable figures for fires started by standard lighters, but said they have been declining because federal regulations require safety devices that make them harder for children to light.

    Davis said the lighters are sold in convenience stores, sporting good stores and souvenir shops.

    ‘‘Most of these places have lighters put up by the cash register. And parents will actually buy these lighters thinking they’re buying a toy because the little boy, little girl is sitting there screaming, ’Mama, buy me this toy,’’’ Davis said.

    Gov. Haley Barbour does not yet have a position on the proposal to ban novelty lighters, spokesman Dan Turner said Wednesday.

    California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in October vetoed a bill that would have banned novelty lighters in his state.

    ‘‘While reducing the risks of accidental fires is important, there is simply no evidence that novelty lighters are any more to blame for incidents of accidental fires than other types of lighters or matches,’’ Schwarzenegger wrote in his veto message. ‘‘In addition, this measure would place additional burdens on both state and local authorities at a time of severe budget reductions.’’

    Some people collect novelty lighters, and Evans said he received an e-mail from a man in north Mississippi who called the proposed ban ‘‘stupid.’’

    The bills pending in Mississippi would still allow the sale or distribution of any novelty lighter made before 1980 or any one that lacks fuel or a device needed to create a flame.

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    The bills are House Bill 232 and Senate Bill 2286.