

For people looking for a quick solution to replace years of training, tattoo schools like the one in Shreveport, trains unlicensed people and sends them out into the public.
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“If having a license is what the state classifies as a ‘professional tattoo artist,’ then what does that mean for non-professionals,” asks Tucker.Ī tattooer must have to have an apprentice license just to train in Louisiana. Tucker explains how medical fields, electricians, ironworkers and pipe fitters have review boards to answer to, while none of it exists for tattooing, yet artists are required to maintain a license.
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There’s nothing that they ask for that proves you are a professional tattooer.” “These are three separate and wholly independent industries and it’s all just thrown into one little mixing pot,” said Tucker. This license encompasses tattooing, permanent cosmetics and body piercing. The requirements to become a licensed tattoo artist include: going through the Red Cross to receive a certificate in first aid, CPR and blood born pathogens, pay a fee and provide a copy of a valid ID. Coming from Oklahoma, where tattooing regulations require accountability and law enforcement is able to administer consequences, Tucker sees a need for change in Louisiana’s tattooing laws. Why am I paying this money,” asks Tucker. “You go to anybody in this world and if they don’t do the job you don’t pay them. They prioritize profits over the concern for the health of its citizens.” They’re not concerned about public health. If you want to do anything you need money. “The professionals are heavily scrutinized by the state, while they let scratchers run rampant like rats.” Micah Harold of Red Handed Tattoo Parlor in Shreveport agrees that the problem in the State is the DHH’s lack of action against illegal tattooers. Enforced for the first time last year and only against shops that were late on renewal fees, the length and consistency of this legal process makes its use as a regulating tool useless. The only other recourse available to the DHH is injunctive relief, a ban leveled by the DHH against a tattooer who refuses to comply with the regulations. For instance, the health hazards associated with “in home” tattooing are astronomical. Tattooing that is not licensed or sanctioned should be illegal due to the numerous implications that this action causes. The only criminal offense in the statues is LA RS 14:93.2, which states if an artist tattoos or pierces a minor without parental consent, and even then, the complaint must be initiated by the parent.Ī misdemeanor offense, this gives law enforcement the ability to make an arrest on those committing the offense however, this is the only law governing tattooing. This means they will not and cannot go after the non-professionals, because the statutes as they stand have little or no penalties attached to them. “You have to maintain a professional license and all that implies, and yet the DHH offers no protections for those licenses,” said Max Tucker, owner of Nakatosh Tattoo Co. If the Louisiana Department of Health & Hospitals (DHH) refuses to do anything about unlicensed tattooers, they’re only succeeding in keeping the professionals honest. The real public threat lies in the fact that it is all too easy to find the location of a cheap tattoo artist working out of some seedy and creepy basement or kitchen that’s neither clean nor sterile, that’s the real public threat. If you have an article for publishing consideration by the NPJ, please send it to tattoo artists across the state are feeling disappointed by a system of laws that are ineffective when it comes to regulating illegal tattooing and unethical amateurs.


Tucker and not necessarily those of the Natchitoches Parish Journal. The views and opinions expressed are those of Mr. The Natchitoches Parish Journal received this submission from Max Tucker.
