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Your Yard Sale Is Illegal (seriously: feds now regulate those too)
Reason ^ | May 7, 2009, 4:41pm | Katherine Mangu-Ward

Posted on 05/07/2009 6:25:24 PM PDT by Behind Liberal Lines

Thinking of having a yard sale this weekend? Before you do, be sure to consult CSPC Publication #254 [PDF].

This handy 28-pager from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reminds the American people that, thanks to the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, the government is totally in charge of your yard sale:

This handbook will help sellers of used products identify types of potentially hazardous products that could harm children or others. CPSC’s laws and regulations apply to anyone who sells or distributes consumer products. This includes thrift stores, consignment stores, charities, and individuals holding yard sales and flea markets.

Selling old kids books, anything with metal, paint, or plastic that a kid might use, old clothes or shoes with metal components that a kid might wear? You know, any of the stuff people routinely sell at yard sales? Technically, you could be on the hook for thousands of dollars worth of fines. Obviously, it's unlikely the CPSA goons are going to bust up your yard sale. But putting out a detailed booklet that reserves the right to do so is hardly encouraging about where the implementation of this legislation is heading.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Editorial; Government
KEYWORDS: consumers; freedom; lead; liberty; lping; oppression; product; safety; selfsufficiency; tyranny; yardsales
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1 posted on 05/07/2009 6:25:25 PM PDT by Behind Liberal Lines
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To: Behind Liberal Lines; Gabz

Oh, cr@p! LOL!

I can’t WAIT to find a way around THIS one, LOL!


2 posted on 05/07/2009 6:27:17 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (Save The Earth. It's The Only Planet With Chocolate.)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

Save Handmade!

http://coolmompicks.com/savehandmade/


3 posted on 05/07/2009 6:29:00 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (Save The Earth. It's The Only Planet With Chocolate.)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

To show Obama’s gestapo that you are aware of their power and control over your yard sale, each yard sale should prominently display a Nazi swastika flag over their yard sale.


4 posted on 05/07/2009 6:29:26 PM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (Politicians always love to talk about "hard work." What the hell would they know about it?)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

They can take that handbook, and SHO-X&8@2#.. IT.. UP THE+832#%7@ AS%$&*^ !!!


5 posted on 05/07/2009 6:30:59 PM PDT by Safrguns
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To: bamahead

.


6 posted on 05/07/2009 6:32:11 PM PDT by KoRn (Department of Homeland Security, Certified - "Right Wing Extremist")
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To: Behind Liberal Lines
'O'GOO-ber-mint..


7 posted on 05/07/2009 6:32:19 PM PDT by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country! What else needs said?)
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To: FlingWingFlyer

Of course, you do know that Nazi flags are EXTREMELY valuable now as collector’s items, and thus way too pricey to fly at a garage sale. Maybe if one could find some cheap reproductions....!


8 posted on 05/07/2009 6:33:13 PM PDT by 2harddrive (...House a TOTAL Loss.....)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

Fvck ‘em.

Can you imagine FBI agents sniffing around every yard sale in the Nation?

Rotsa ruck, Raggy!


9 posted on 05/07/2009 6:33:51 PM PDT by clee1 (We use 43 muscles to frown, 17 to smile, and 2 to pull a trigger. I'm lazy and I'm tired of smiling.)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

When I get around to holding my yard sale the last thing I’ll do is contact the Feds to ask what I can or cannot sell. They may KMWA.


10 posted on 05/07/2009 6:34:02 PM PDT by SoldierDad (Proud Dad of a U.S. Army Infantry Soldier presently instructing at Ft. Benning.)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines
I wonder what constitutional power gives the government the right to regulate a private yard sale? Oh, I forgot the constitution is now a “living document” and the states are nothing more that administrative districts of the imperial.. uhh I mean federal government.
11 posted on 05/07/2009 6:34:29 PM PDT by apillar
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To: Behind Liberal Lines; pandoraou812

If the FedGov wants to come collect some lead at my next yard sale then drop on by. (+)


12 posted on 05/07/2009 6:34:34 PM PDT by TigersEye (Cloward-Piven Strategy)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

This makes me want to sell some old lead based paint!


13 posted on 05/07/2009 6:35:07 PM PDT by SWAMPSNIPER (THE SECOND AMENDMENT, A MATTER OF FACT, NOT A MATTER OF OPINION)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines
FOR SALE: One "Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) handbook" $10 ... $2 ... $1 ... 0.10$ Free?
14 posted on 05/07/2009 6:37:23 PM PDT by CodeMasterPhilzar (I'll keep my money, my guns, and my freedom. You can keep the "change.")
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To: 2harddrive

You got that right. I snatched up a lot of pretty nice Nazi stuff in Germany after the Berlin Wall came down. Of course, I know I’m in for a lot of BS if Napolitano sends her gestapo here to check on me since I’m on her rightwing, extremist terrorist watch list with a lot of my veteran brothers.


15 posted on 05/07/2009 6:39:26 PM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (Politicians always love to talk about "hard work." What the hell would they know about it?)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

Sounds like some states should pass laws protecting yard-sales the same way Montana just did protecting firearms manufacture, sales, and posession. A yard-sale isn’t interstate commerce.


16 posted on 05/07/2009 6:39:30 PM PDT by The_Reader_David (And when they behead your own people in the wars which are to come, then you will know. . .)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin
"I can’t WAIT to find a way around THIS one, LOL!"

Simply label every item in your yard sale as a work of art, apply for government subsidy as a starving artist and sell whatever you want. You'll make a fortune.

17 posted on 05/07/2009 6:41:13 PM PDT by muir_redwoods ( O.B.A.M.A. = One Big Asinine Mistake, America)
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To: clee1
I would be more concerned that a serial plaintiff would attend yard sales, buy things, and then claim damages. There are probably enough out of work lawyers out there who could realize some income this way. Frivolous lawsuits, here they come!
18 posted on 05/07/2009 6:42:40 PM PDT by stayathomemom (Beware of cat attacks while typing!)
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To: muir_redwoods

Excellent! Capital Idea! :)


19 posted on 05/07/2009 6:42:52 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (Save The Earth. It's The Only Planet With Chocolate.)
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To: SWAMPSNIPER
This is GREAT !!

run off a hundred copies of REASON's article and hand it out with every sale.

Oue best weapon (wellll, not really ... but ... ) is information.

20 posted on 05/07/2009 6:43:30 PM PDT by knarf (I say things that are true ... I have no proof ... but they're true.)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

SCREW THAT! Unless of course the feds want to buy all my old junk (perhaps a little “bailout money”)?


21 posted on 05/07/2009 6:43:56 PM PDT by JSDude1 (DHS, FBI, FEMA, etc have been bad little boys. They need to be spanked and sent to timeout!)
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To: stayathomemom

The problem in that is the damages.

Unless your child developed serious medical problems, and you’d have to prove that the item caused the problem, your damages would be the price you paid for the item.

No money in it for the ambulance chasers.


22 posted on 05/07/2009 6:46:39 PM PDT by clee1 (We use 43 muscles to frown, 17 to smile, and 2 to pull a trigger. I'm lazy and I'm tired of smiling.)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

If any of these government slugs happen to read this, I’d like to invite them to shove it up their @$$. They can never possibly enforce it. Such dimwitted over-reaching regulation does nothing but undermine respect for the law.


23 posted on 05/07/2009 6:47:08 PM PDT by ccmay (Too much Law; not enough Order.)
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To: TigersEye

I wish they would mind their own damn business & try to sort the messes they’ve already made instead of creating new ones. Shaking my head again & wondering just what these people are on.


24 posted on 05/07/2009 6:51:36 PM PDT by pandoraou812 (elected officials should be required to pass drug, alcohol & dementia testing)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines
So is there a handbook on what to do when you go to the dump to unload your trash and there are people that snatch stuff before you can throw it into the bins that don't speak English so you can tell them what's wrong with the stuff you are throwing away?

Wow, extreme run on sentence. Where's the grammar nazis?

25 posted on 05/07/2009 6:52:29 PM PDT by MagnoliaB
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To: Behind Liberal Lines
CPSC’s laws and regulations apply to ... thrift stores, consignment stores, charities, and individuals holding yard sales and flea markets.

Ain't life in a totalitarian country just grand? Just until you see what's coming down the road next.

America -- a great idea, didn't last. Way too many did way too little for way too long. That's how civilizations fall.

26 posted on 05/07/2009 6:53:59 PM PDT by Clint Williams (Read Roto-Reuters -- we're the spinmeisters | America -- a great idea, didn't last.)
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To: KoRn; Abathar; Abcdefg; Abram; Abundy; akatel; albertp; AlexandriaDuke; Alexander Rubin; ...
Selling old kids books, anything with metal, paint, or plastic that a kid might use, old clothes or shoes with metal components that a kid might wear? ... Technically, you could be on the hook for thousands of dollars worth of fines.



Libertarian ping! Click here to get added or here to be removed or post a message here!
27 posted on 05/07/2009 6:54:56 PM PDT by bamahead (Few men desire liberty; most men wish only for a just master. -- Sallust)
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To: stayathomemom

My thinking also. There is always those types around. All it takes is a phone call.

Can listing make a difference?

— List everything “as is”.
— Consumer beware.
— Use in a safe manner, as I did.
— Not responsible for your stupidity.
— I have your name on your check and I know where you live...nah, forget that one.


28 posted on 05/07/2009 6:55:25 PM PDT by TribalPrincess2U (The plan... 0 in power for life. At least that's what they told him.)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

I think that micromanagement with vast hyper-regulation of a local yard sale MAY slightly overstep the Constitutional powers granted to the federal government.

Just a TINY little bit unconstitutional.


29 posted on 05/07/2009 6:55:37 PM PDT by FormerACLUmember (Chains you can believe in.)
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To: pandoraou812
Good point about their messes. They want to regulate every breath we the people make but the government creates more debt and damage than the rest of us 300 million put together.
30 posted on 05/07/2009 6:56:47 PM PDT by TigersEye (Cloward-Piven Strategy)
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To: The_Reader_David
A yard-sale isn't interstate commerce.

Of course it isn't, but the Wickard Commerce Clause is in effect and SCOTUS may say otherwise:

Where necessary to make a regulation of interstate commerce effective, Congress may regulate even those intrastate activities that do not themselves substantially affect interstate commerce.

J. Scalia concurring, Gonzales v Raich

_____________________________________

Respondents Diane Monson and Angel Raich use marijuana that has never been bought or sold, that has never crossed state lines, and that has had no demonstrable effect on the national market for marijuana. If Congress can regulate this under the Commerce Clause, then it can regulate virtually anything, and the Federal Government is no longer one of limited and enumerated powers.

J. Thomas dissenting, Gonzales v Raich

31 posted on 05/07/2009 6:57:00 PM PDT by Ken H
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

These guys are out of control. My family is at a flea market this weekend. I refuse to call them to tell them not to sell anything. Screw ‘em.


32 posted on 05/07/2009 6:57:24 PM PDT by Conservativegreatgrandma (When the righteous rule, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule the people mourn. Proverbs 29;2)
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To: TigersEye

Common sense is dead. I swear there is something in the water these kooks drink.


33 posted on 05/07/2009 7:02:22 PM PDT by pandoraou812 (elected officials should be required to pass drug, alcohol & dementia testing)
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To: SoldierDad
When I get around to holding my yard sale the last thing I’ll do is contact the Feds to ask what I can or cannot sell. They may KMWA.

Or toss it in the slammer. Hey, life won't be so bad in the re-education camps. Until Nobama cuts the funding.

34 posted on 05/07/2009 7:07:53 PM PDT by Clint Williams (Read Roto-Reuters -- we're the spinmeisters | America -- a great idea, didn't last.)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines
The only not-so-bleak aspect of these laws/regulations is that the law seems to require knowing violations (i.e., it only applies if you sell a product that you know is not safe.

Still seems like overstepping, still seems open to abuse, and still shouldn't be a Federal issue (though, under the currently-prevailing Commerce Clause jurisprudence, the Courts certainly wouldn't stop it from being one). But, I'm not sure this will practically be as much of a disaster as some think it might be.

35 posted on 05/07/2009 7:10:22 PM PDT by Conscience of a Conservative
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

Don’t know about those holding a yard sale, but I’d certainly consult the thing before giving a toy or other item to a kid.


36 posted on 05/07/2009 7:11:27 PM PDT by durasell
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

The hell you say...


37 posted on 05/07/2009 7:13:18 PM PDT by Dead Corpse (III)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

How long ‘till they’re taxed too?


38 posted on 05/07/2009 7:21:09 PM PDT by GlennBeck08
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To: Clint Williams

I’ll be dead before that, believe me.


39 posted on 05/07/2009 7:23:30 PM PDT by SoldierDad (Proud Dad of a U.S. Army Infantry Soldier presently instructing at Ft. Benning.)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

and forget those church bake sales.


40 posted on 05/07/2009 7:23:47 PM PDT by blackminorca
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

Clearly they are setting grounds for endless lawsuits.

“I bought his 63454 year old jacket and it pinched my neck when it zipped up, causing pain, blood loss, and endless psychological damage. I’ll never be able to zip anything again without feeling that horrible pain.

It’s all your fault. You owe me $23432898 plus damages.”


41 posted on 05/07/2009 7:24:32 PM PDT by Veto! (Opinions freely dispensed as advice)
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To: muir_redwoods

There are government programs for starving artists? Really?


42 posted on 05/07/2009 7:25:40 PM PDT by Veto! (Opinions freely dispensed as advice)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines
So the goobermint says it is illegal to sell this highly contaminated auto at your garage sale...

But the same goobermint will give you $4,000 of OPM to take it off your hands, no questions asked.

Goobermint logic at its finest.

43 posted on 05/07/2009 7:27:50 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: Ken H

I thought Wickard v. Filburn, 317 U.S. 111 settled that in 1942 when SCOTUS declared that the Commerce Clause permitted Congress to “regulate Commerce...among the several States.” It was wheat in ‘42, not weed. Sounds like the same case, though.


44 posted on 05/07/2009 7:31:10 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: pandoraou812

>Common sense is dead. I swear there is something in the water these kooks drink.

...too bad it isn’t arsenic. [/sarc]


45 posted on 05/07/2009 7:32:52 PM PDT by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
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To: Veto!

Yes there are, the National Endowment for the Arts


46 posted on 05/07/2009 7:35:38 PM PDT by muir_redwoods ( O.B.A.M.A. = One Big Asinine Mistake, America)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines
Your Yard Sale Is Illegal (seriously: feds now regulate those too)

On the positive side, the feds may come up with a way to prosecute the "early birds" to the full extent of the law. The next time we advertise "No Early Birds", WE MEAN IT...

47 posted on 05/07/2009 7:43:16 PM PDT by FDNYRHEROES (In just 3 days, the War on Terror became the War on Free Speech.)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

I would rather go to yard sales than fish. It is the only place you can find something not made in China.


48 posted on 05/07/2009 7:46:10 PM PDT by Big Horn (Rebuild the GOP to a conservative party)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

Good, great news. My last yard sale made very little money, so where do I apply for my bailout?


49 posted on 05/07/2009 7:54:37 PM PDT by BlueStateBlues (Blue State business, Red State heart.........Palin 2012, can't come soon enough.)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

More and more Big Brotherism every day. Lock and load patriots. The whites of their eyes are beginning to show.


50 posted on 05/07/2009 7:55:28 PM PDT by Don Corleone (Leave the gun..take the cannoli now reads "Oil the gun..eat the cannolis.")
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