The Gun Counter

Feds Ban Trade of Elephant Ivory
By: Steve Shackleford

Except in “a very limited number of circumstances,” the federal government has announced a ban on the commercial trade of elephant ivory, according to a report from the office of the secretary of The White House.

How the ban will affect existing knives with handles of elephant and fossil ivory and existing supplies of elephant and fossil ivory held by knifemaking suppliers, knifemakers and others is not exactly clear at this time. However, if past experience is any barometer, knife professionals and enthusiasts should expect the worst.

Continued:
http://www.blademag.com/blog/steve-shac ... =235963571

My son-in-law, the knife maker, has been predicting this for a while. Elephant ivory, even legal ivory, is getting harder to come by all the time.

The problem is that it doesn't really affect the poachers, who use AKs to drive elephants into minefields. If they can't sell it to one buyer, they'll sell it to another one. But the countries who have a controlled hunting season, or who shoot elephants on control, to protect people (small farmers, etc.) will now have no legal market for their product in the U.S.

The SIL has, however, come up with a workable substitute for ivory for spacers, scales, etc. in knife making. He uses stabilized holly instead. You almost need a jeweler's loupe to tell the difference, and it's cheaper, AND legal, with no need to "jump through your ass to prove you have the right paperwork."

Two points of order:

1) The "office of the secretary of the White House" would be the people who answer phones, make coffee, and type memos.
So I'm betting that Mr. Shackleford slept through a good bit of high school civics classes in his day.

2) Ex post facto laws are explicitly unconstitutional, and so is a blanket government policy, no matter where promulgated, assuming that one is guilty until they prove their innocence.

Not that such petty details will constrain a White House where the Diktator rules by fiat decree most days, but they are, nonetheless, germane facts in the discussion.

Heh. Where does ivory come from, who has relatives from there, and what will this do to black market ivory prices?

Or am I being too cynical?

Greg wrote:Or am I being too cynical?

Cui Bono is always a good question to ask about new regulations.

Windy Wilson wrote:Cui Bono is always a good question to ask about new regulations.

Don't bring Bono into this. He already thinks he runs Africa.

Speaking of musicians, I take it this ban would also affect old instruments with ivory parts like piano keys, string nuts, etc.?

'zackly.

Selling an old piano or knife on Craigslist or eBay could make you a federal felon.

So how long until someone gets busted for having stabilized holly because the g men can't tell the difference.

Kommander wrote:So how long until someone gets busted for having stabilized holly because the g men can't tell the difference.

There's record of cops busting people for Japanese Maple in their front yards.

similar but not so similar

And since there's no trade in Elephant Ivory, what benefit is there to various villages in Africa to let the local garden-raiding elephants live long enough to bring a paid elephant hunt in (with cut for the village) rather than turn a blind eye to the poachers? The poachers certainly won't abide by any herd-culling formula from the game wardens.