"Burn the castle...we're killing the creature..."

When the creature is tattoo regulations you have X amount of laws for X amount of locations and the people, the general public, don't seem to care much about the state of regulation in their area unless it's so extreme it's banned/illegal and even then...maybe they notice, maybe not. This is why the discussion is important. Without public and open discussion the regulatory bodies will say "jump" and we, the artists and shops, will have to ask "how high".

Tattoo artist have a completely different take on regulations, they seem to me to fall into one of several catagories.

1. They don't want any regulation at all, they keep their head down and work ignoring any regulations imposed and do whatever they want.
2. They don't want to adhear to the regulations imposed upon them but do so anyway without raising their voices because, hey what can you do???
3. They don't want regulation but understand that it's going to happen anyway so they just wait to see which hoops they are forced to jump through now.
4. They don't want regulations but know that it's going to happen anyway so they speak up and help to mold the language of the bill to be fair and just.

Note: each catagory starts with "they don't want regulation"...you see in a perfect world we wouldn't need any. But this world is far from perfect and it is our duty to be involved if we want fairness. Over-regulation is the tool of government unbridaled by the profession it governs.

Over-regulation is our enemy.

Simple, concise regulation is easier to understand and easier to adhere to.

So that mob at the top of the page...they are lobbying for fair regulations which treat the practitioner and the client with respect and civility. That mob is the concerned tattooists, all of us together with our customers, the people who keep us in business.

Let us use the torches to illuminate the issue not burn it to the ground.

Paul Roe

Editor in Chief

Tattoodles.com

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