Tattoo Regulation is coming

In Microeconomics we're just now looking at regulation in the marketplace. Here in Arizona, tattoo parlors are asking for state regulation.

Valley tattoo-parlor owners, eager to protect and burnish the reputation of their industry, are calling for state regulation of the tattoo trade.

Shop owners have teamed up to form the Arizona Tattoo and Piercing Association, and one of the organization's first steps was to meet this week with state legislators who say they now intend to introduce legislation to regulate the tattoo industry...

"What we heard from the tattoo industry is that they want to be more respected, and unless there is some sort of regulation, shops can exist which will give a bad name to the whole industry," Schapira said.

He said he intends to introduce legislation to bring regulation to the tattoo industry at the upcoming session of the Legislature.

Burton-Cahill said she considers the matter "an issue of public health."...

"This is becoming an increasing trend with the reputable operators," said Will Humble, assistant director of the department. "The majority of the shop owners are doing things in a sanitary way but a handful is not doing everything they can. The bigger members of the industry are trying to make sure those disreputable kinds of places don't give tattooing a bad name."

I suspect that the industry will be sucessful in getting a regulatory scheme implemented. I also predict (from the capture theory of regulation) that in a short time the regulation will result in reduced competition and higher prices.

Link for Mesa CC students