Reason number four million three hundred thousand and six as to why tattoo equipment sales should be regulated to professional artists only!
Yes. I know that tattoo equipment makers have to make a living, too. I know that scratchers will always find a way to make prison tattoo equipment and do the job anyway. I know that people who want to get a tattoo will find a way to do it. But, damn it; I see no reason to make it easy for them. All it results in is the dragging down of our beloved art, and bullshit like this latest piece of garbage giving the sacred art of tattooing yet another black eye.
According to CBS News, 30 year-old Eugene Eaton was recently arrested for allegedly tattooing minors in exchange stolen property such as laptops and video games, according to Sacramento police. Some of these children were as young as eleven years old. In one case it is rumored that the child’s mother gave permission for the tattoo and that she spoke to Eaton on the phone to give him the correct spelling of a name. A 13-year-old was also been arrested. Police say the teen has tattoos on both arms and his chest.
Sacramento Police Captain Daniel Hahn say this modern day Fagin told them he didn’t know the children were so young, despite the fact that the 13-year-old had his birth date tattooed on his arm. Yeah, right. “Please, Sir. May I have some more?” If bullshit were dollars this reject of humanity wouldn’t need to fence stolen property.
Eaton’s family paints a different picture. Eaton’s brother says only one boy gave his brother a laptop in exchange for a tattoo. He says they didn’t know the laptop was stolen. He also says the boy’s mother gave Eaton permission for the tattoo. Even with the last obvious lie fresh in my mind I still have to say, “So the fuck what?! It is still illegal to tattoo minors, Jerk wad.”
My point? If tattoo equipment were not so easily available to the general public, perhaps incidents like this would not have occurred in the first place. Scratchers think that professional artists want the supply part of the industry regulated just to keep them out. Well, yes, but that is not the only reason. Suppliers who make their product available to anyone with a few extra bucks in their pocket are partially responsible for shit like this, and a hundred other tattoo horror stories that crop up from time to time.
It’s not just about making a buck anymore, Gang. It’s about a way of life and maintaining a level of respect that has taken us hundreds of years to reach. Either we as a community get the message across to suppliers, or we will continue to see such outrages. Believe me, enough incidents like this one and we’ll be back to the good old days of the Lysol and water bucket rinse, don’t change the needle, next customer. (Yes, that last remark was sarcasm.)
Tattooing is now a regulated, professional industry in most of the world. I think it’s about time tattoo equipment suppliers were as well.
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