A recent bill passed by the Arkansas Senate to limit body art procedures evoked frenzied online comments — many negative — but some of Gainesville’s own tattoo artists see the other side of the legislation.
Such procedures banned by the new bill include scarification, a branded tattoo without ink, and dermal implants, solid shapes placed underneath the skin, according to Arkansas Senate Bill 387.
Jack Salesses, a Gainesville tattoo artist at Valkyrie’s Tattoo & Body Piercing, located at 2226 NW Eighth Court, said he is in favor of the safety the regulation provides.
“Banning? No. Legislation? Yes,” Salesses said of the bill, now being passed to the House. “There should be very strict guidelines and licensing requirements.”
Collin Jordan, a 26-year-old tattoo artist at Inked Tattoo, located at 1410 NW 13th St., said he thinks the bill is closed-minded.
“At a certain point, you stop judging, and if that person wants to express themselves that way, then, fine,” he said.
What both Salesses and Jordan are more concerned with are people called “scratchers.”
“Scratchers are people that don’t really know how to tattoo or draw. They just bought a machine, and they’re sitting at their house,” Jordan said.
In January 2012, Florida made regulations that require licensing with the Florida Department of Health, which includes a four-page checklist from the health department, licensing fees, continuing education and obtaining a biomedical waste permit. Prior to that, only body piercing required a license.
“The biggest concern to me is that [scratchers] are destroying people’s skin,” Jordan said.
Because tattooing in Florida is highly regulated, Salesses said he wishes state government enforced heavier penalties for those who tattoo without a license. The current administrative action is a fine.
“Get the right people in [the board], the right education and the right legislation, and put some bite behind it,” Salesses said.
A version of this story ran on page 9 on 9/3/2013 under the headline "Arkansas body art bill leaves a mark on Gainesville locals"
