I am the Co-Owner of Tip of the Needle Body Piercing Emporium in Canandaigua, recently I have had a distraught mother come into my shop and forcefully describe how she thought that the state law for piercing was 18 and over with out parental consent. When examining the Bill A4546 Seminerio, I found that the justification for the bill is due to the rate of infections. However the bill only wants to enforce the age limit of piercing, when the real concern lies in the unregulated practices of this industry. There are a lot of shops who cut corners trying to save time and money, and there are inexperienced piercers who do not know what they are doing, or try to cut illegitimate deals for free piercings. All of these situations are over looked because this industry is not regulated. There is one organization currently set up to regulate stores, but most shops fear being a member because the APP (Association of Professional Piercers) can have your shop shut down for no reason other than they simply did not care for the shop. Further more, regulating what information is advertised by piercing shops would stop misinforming those looking into piercings. Misinformation on care of a piercing can cause an increased number of infections. If there was an organization set up to regulate the health aspect of piercings, I believe that these problems would become less prevalent. Another issue that plagues the piercing industry is where doctors think that all piercings are done by a piercing gun and are deemed unsafe and need to be removed promptly, which can cause more problems. I think the health aspect needs to be addressed first rather than the age issue. I also think that doctors need to be informed about how piercing shops perform piercings with sterile needles and not piercing guns. The last note on the health concern is that I think local doctors and local piercing shops should collaborate so that there are no misunderstandings between the two practices. As for the age controversy, the policy at our shop is 16 and over with out parental consent, for the reason that a child may be emancipated at the age of 16. Ages 14 to 15 require parental consent, and no person will be pierced under the age of 14, unless it is the earlobes being pierced. We feel that a person of 16 years or older has the full responsibility to not only make the decision to get a piercing but to also care for their new piercing properly, and that if the parent of a child of 14 or 15 feels that their child can properly care for their piercing then we will proceed. The reason we pierce a person of 16 or 17 years of age is because the government allows a 16 year old to be emancipated, therefore if the government says a 16 year old is responsible enough to care for themselves, then they are responsible enough to care for a new piercing. All children and adults are required to have a valid form of ID. We here at Tip of the Needle Piercing Emporium have agreed that the responsibilities of a person at the age of 14 are adequate with parental consent, and at 16 with out parental consent. These are amendments that i think should be passed on the bill befor it becomes a law.

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