You know you're already my obsession...Stop treating paint as a weapon...

(I bet it's been a damn long time since you've heard that song!)

This entry is about one of these right-wing microtyrannies that's actually a macrotyranny because it used to be considered far beyond the pale but now faces little challenge. (This story is also a few days old, but it's just now coming to the fore.)

Officials in St. Louis want markers and cans of spray paint to be treated equivalent to a handgun: A new proposed ordinance would restrict who can buy paint or markers, require purchasers to show an ID, and criminalize unauthorized possession.

It would also require retailers to keep records of buyers and turn the logs over to police when asked. Oops, there goes the Fourth Amendment!

Criminalization of markers and paint, which in the past had no restrictions, probably made its U.S. debut in the mid-'90s spittle wave. Other American locales have tried to restrict purchases of the items. But the St. Louis proposal is one of very few that would penalize not just sales but also possession.

The planned ordinance would prohibit unauthorized possession of paint or markers on private as well as public property. The punishment is severe: a $500 fine or up to 90 days in the slammer.

A bill in Colorado that would have made it illegal to possess these items failed when lawmakers realized it was open to abuse. A park just 2 blocks from my digs actually has a sign boasting of a similar policy though. (Now there's an Allowed Cloud for me to violate!)

Talk about a slippery slope! Today it's markers and paint. Tomorrow they'll be going after little kids with crayons. If you don't think they would, who'd have ever thought a student would get suspended from school for wearing Winnie the Pooh socks?

If I owned a store in St. Louis, do you think I'd cooperate with city officials' desire to make criminals of every individual every waking moment? Pick from these 2 answers: 1) Hell no! 2) Fuck no! I damn sure wouldn't be keeping a log of buyers. Of course, many major chains even outside St. Louis are already doing what this bill would do. If there's one thing that's just as bad as heavy-handed government officials being the arbiter of theraupetical correctitude, it's Big Business doing the same.

Silly me. I used to think America was a free country. Now if I want to spray paint my own bike a different color, I have to be carded and go through heaps of red tape. Oh well. Another day, another example of the innocent being punished in the name of a "war" on something-or-other.

(Source: http://www.riverfronttimes.com/2008-06-04/news/paintless-in-st-louis-st-louis-alderwoman-donna-baringer-wants-to-treat-cans-of-spray-paint-like-they-re-handguns)