In today’s dispatch for the Examiner, I report on the latest buffoonery from the NYC Council, a registry for purchasers of hydrochloric acid:
Big Brother will be keeping tabs on who buys etching acid, thanks to a new law introduced by Council Member Peter Vallone Jr. and passed by the New York City Council on Wednesday. Under the new law, stores will be required to record the purchaser’s name and address, the amount of acid purchased, and the date.
Although hydrochloric acid has many legitimate uses – including glass and metal etching, household cleaning and building construction – it attracted Vallone’s attention because it often used by vandals to to etch subway windows and bus shelters. Vallone has made anti-graffiti grandstanding his special niche in the nanny state. The son of the former City Council speaker previously authored legislation banning anyone under 21 from possession wide-tip markers, spray paint or etching acid. When that law was thrown out after a lawsuit by designer Mark Ecko, Vallone drafted a revision that would ban the art tools’ possession by anyone under age 25.
Read the rest here.