second hand childrens clothes illegal?

the simple dolloar ^ | 01/04/09 | megben

[Megben]

Trent Hamm at thesimpledollar.com writes in his January 3 entry (excerpted) : "For those of you who haven’t heard the news yet, on February 10, 2009, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act comes into effect. One of the major changes that this program will bring into play is a mandate that everything sold for children 12 and younger will have to be tested for lead and phthalates, and anything that isn’t tested (or that fails) will be considered hazardous and cannot be sold. Read more about the CPSIA at the L.A. Times and some interesting blog commentary from the fashion industry. Where things get interesting is with used products. Consider your local resale and thrift shop. Currently, all of their secondhand children’s clothes will have to be tested for lead and phthalates. Given that many such stores aren’t high-income operations - many are nonprofits - these shops simply cannot afford to do the testing on the children’s clothes on their shelves.

So what happens? Most thrift shops are currently not accepting any children’s clothing at all. Sometime in the next month or so, all thrift shops will have to clear all of their children’s clothing from the shelves … and send them to the landfill. (It’s worth noting that the Consumer Product Safety Commission is considering a reprieve for products made from natural materials, which would exempt some clothes, but not nearly all clothes"

From reading the whole article, it appears that this will apply to used/new products that are sold at garage sales, thrift stores, ebay, etc. The discussion that follows the blog posts lists going to the sites of the National Bankruptcy Day or the Handmade Toy Alliance Site to write your congressman/woman.

[caver]

“If it says China it should be tested.”

Agreed!

[MrB]

Rand, I believe, had one of her characters state that

you can’t rule honest men,
you have to make the laws so arbitrary and confusing
that people acting in their everyday lives
cannot help but violate a law,

then you have them...

[tacticalogic]

Alternatively, it may get rigidly enforced until it eventually gets tested in court and a pragmatic judge declares the law unenforceable.

Overturn Wickard v Filburn!

[MrB]

Find a good community and church, and it’s possible to take steps in that direction.

[angkor]

>>>>Oh, the carefree days of “Little House on the Prairie” where the Ingles had everything they needed <<<<<<

Enjoy digging your next outhouse pit.

Make sure it doesn’t contaminate your neighbor’s water table.

[DJ Taylor]

"second hand children's clothes illegal?"

Well, better late than never. Anyone who has a big brother, as I do, knows how much we hated wearing our big brother's hand-me-downs.

[MrB]

That statement only applies when those laws thwart the anti-family agenda of Satan.

[MamaTexan]

The end-run around this concerning second-hand items is relatively simple, just mark them with the following disclaimer:

Not intended for use by children under 12

The 'law' doesn't say actually used, just intended for use.

[Gabz]

Yup!

This is absolutely ridiculous.

[TornadoAlley3]

Is this only for “sold” clothing, what about clothes donated to Salvation Army?

[MrB]

That’s the one...

for others who don’t know what that one was, it was the STUPIDEST and biggest overreach of the USSC and the fedgov during FDR.

A man growing his own wheat for his own consumption was ruled to be subject to federal regulation because if he wasn’t growing the wheat for himself, he’d have to purchase it in an interstate transaction, therefore, he was affecting interstate commerce, and subject to that power of the fedgov.

[Vaquero]

That statement only applies when those laws thwart the anti-family agenda of Satan

yup, your right.

I usually co-opt it when the nanny staters want to tax fast food or make draconian anti smoking laws...

[Tax-chick]

I mainly get dresses for the girls at the secondhand store; boys’ clothes are usually too worn out. (Wonder why ... ;-).

Really obnoxious law, though.

[tacticalogic]

Overturning that is the key to returning the federal government to some semblance of it’s originally intended scope and authority.

[MrB]

These fascists are pretty intent on pushing right through “that awkward stage”...

“America is at that awkward stage: It’s too late to work within the system and too soon to shoot the b@st@rds.” ... Claire Wolf

[libertarian27]

Apparently outfits like the Salvation Army and GoodWill can’t SELL them with this law - you can donate to them all day and they’ll have to throw them out...or give away for free.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-thrift2-2009jan02,0,2083247.story

[4yearlurker]

I’m sure this legislation was passed “for the children.”

[Gabz]

I only have a girl!!! All kidding aside, we buy a tremendous amount of our own clothing in the thrift stores, not just stuff for Jax. Heck I even got my wedding dress in one.

Definitely an obnoxious law.