It is art. It is body art. To ban it is unconstitutional. The law is outrageous. The thought of the law is even more outrageous.

A new law in Arkansas is waiting for the governor’s signature that would prohibit tattoos and piercings that are considered nontraditional. (Photo/Jhong Dizon via Flickr)

By Frederick Reese 

August 22, 2013

On Tuesday, (click here) the Arkansas State Senate passed a bill that bans “non-traditional” tattoos and body modifications. Based in part on a call to improve the safety of non-doctor administered cosmetic procedures, the bill would effectively ban scarification, dermal implants and certain tattoos yet to be defined by the vagueness of the bill’s language.

Introduced in March by Sen. Missy Irvin (R – Mountain View), the ban — targeted at licensed body-art professionals — meant to address the possibility of staph infections, was seemingly conceived from Irvin’s discomfort with the procedures. Before the Arkansas Senate’s Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee, Irvin said of body modifications, “If you review the pictures of scarification, it’s an interesting technique but very problematic,” ultimately comparing the procedure to female genital mutilation. As for dermal implants, Irvin suggested “spikes and things like that” and “peel[ing] back the skin.”...

I am not necessarily a fan of tattoos. I don't have one. That is not the point. There are people conducting the creation of body art. They have a right to do it. Those that practice this form of art are to do so without peril to their customers. It is called SANITARY CONDITIONS. Perhaps Senator Missy Irvin is unaware of HEALTH REGULATIONS.

This legislation in Arkansas is more than government overreach. It is more than unconstitutional. It is a prime example of lousy priorities and even worse governance. Senator Missy Irvin is not only conducting her own priorities for other's lives and standards, she is setting up the entire governance of Arkansas for a dictatorship. The same holds true when it comes to the Pro-Lifers. Their overreach is not about governing, it is about promoting a religious and 'social status' practice. It has to end.

Body Art is also an economic engine.

$2.3 billion  Annual revenue of the tattoo industry (click here)

50 Percent of people who think having a tattoo is rebellious (So what?)

Arkansas, not different than Louisiana where there is one of the largest aquatic sink holes in the nation, if not the ONLY aquatic sink hole in the nation, needs an economy. Body art is part of the Arkansas economy. Senator Missy Irvin cannot afford to outlaw body art, it will further implode the Arkansas economy and increase poverty and the DEPENDENCE by the State of Arkansas on the federal treasury.

This bill and soon to be law when the Governor signs is MORONIC. It is moronic governance and IN FACT is not governance at all. Senator Missy Irvin is a moron.