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Come July, Keys Will Be De Facto Illegal In Minnesota
Reason magazine ^ | May 23, 2025 | Christian Britschgi

Posted on 05/30/2025 11:45:56 AM PDT by lowbridge

Come July, common keys for houses, cars, boats, and motorcycles will be illegal in Minnesota, save for uncertain intervention from the state Legislature.

That's when the state's ban on the manufacture, sale, or import of keys, toys, dishes, and other common items containing more than a tiny percentage of lead or cadmium goes into effect.

The purpose of that law was to remove dangerous heavy metals from products that come into contact with children. The trouble is that almost all keys sold today have more lead than the new law's 0.09 percent limit on lead content.

Locksmiths have been warning that the state's lead ban will outlaw most of the products they sell. Alternative metals would require lengthy and expensive transition to using less functional materials, they say.

"Approximately 75 percent of all products that we stock have become prohibited for sale," said Rob Justen of Doyle Security Products.

"Aluminum is too brittle," another locksmith told Valley News Live. "It breaks instead of bends, and it's not as easily machined as brass is. The same problem with steel, it rusts and it's much harder to machine."

Lawmakers have proposed a range of fixes, including raising the lead threshold to 1.5 percent for keys (which is California's standard) or, more modestly, delaying the ban for another three years.

(Excerpt) Read more at reason.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: consequences; gettingitgoodandhard; keys; lead; minnesota
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1 posted on 05/30/2025 11:45:56 AM PDT by lowbridge
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To: lowbridge

Remind me why we need government.


2 posted on 05/30/2025 11:48:45 AM PDT by I want the USA back (America is once again GREAT! )
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To: lowbridge

Stuff will be so much easier to steal and places easier still to rob.

The criminal class will be pleased.


3 posted on 05/30/2025 11:48:45 AM PDT by wally_bert (I cannot be sure for certain, but in my personal opinion I am certain that I am not sure..)
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To: lowbridge

Lawmakers have proposed a range of fixes

Highest bidder?


4 posted on 05/30/2025 11:50:59 AM PDT by Vaduz
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To: lowbridge

The idiom “throw the baby out with the bathwater” originates from a German proverb, “das Kind mit dem Bade ausschütten” (to pour the baby out with the bath), dating back to at least 1512. The English phrase is a translation of this German proverb. It was first recorded in English in 1853 by Thomas Carlyle, who translated many works from German. The phrase means to discard something valuable along with something unwanted.
All Your Base AI


5 posted on 05/30/2025 11:50:59 AM PDT by tumblindice (America's founding fathers: all armed conservatives)
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To: lowbridge

Where is a federal judge injunction?


6 posted on 05/30/2025 11:51:06 AM PDT by Fledermaus ("It turns out all we really needed was a new President!")
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To: I want the USA back

We need government to constantly remind us why we don’t need government....................


7 posted on 05/30/2025 11:51:12 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: I want the USA back

To e’ff thing up and steal your wealth.


8 posted on 05/30/2025 11:53:52 AM PDT by Resolute Conservative
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To: lowbridge

This is insane...


9 posted on 05/30/2025 11:53:53 AM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: lowbridge

It’s always “for the children.”


10 posted on 05/30/2025 11:54:18 AM PDT by jacknhoo (Luke 12:51; Think ye, that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, no; but separation.)
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To: lowbridge

Keys are made of Brass. Brass for keys contains up to 2.5% lead to make it more machinable (easier to cut the teeth.)


11 posted on 05/30/2025 11:56:45 AM PDT by Yo-Yo (Is the /Sarc tag really necessary?)
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To: I want the USA back
"Remind me why we need government."


12 posted on 05/30/2025 11:57:42 AM PDT by TexasGator (11-.1.'1'11\1I11111111111.1'11.'11/'~~'111./.)
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To: lowbridge

Mini-brained Minnesota?


13 posted on 05/30/2025 11:59:48 AM PDT by Jim W N (MAGA by restoring the Gospel of the Grace of Christ (Jude 3) and our Free Constitutional Republic!)
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To: I want the USA back

To save you from yourself.

If only you would stop licking your keys, we wouldn’t need laws like this.


14 posted on 05/30/2025 12:00:02 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom (“Diversity is our Strength” just doesn’t carry the same message as “Death from Above”)
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To: lowbridge

Sounds to me that the electronic lock MFGs of the USA got a bill passed….wonder if those E Locks have a Police Access Default function…. Just saying…


15 posted on 05/30/2025 12:01:53 PM PDT by Lockbox (politicians, they all seemed like game show host to me.... Sting)
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To: Lockbox

Surely there isn’t some kind of backdoor in an electronic smart lock?

I kid of course.

If there isn’t one, somebody will find a way to exploit the vulnerability. The genie will be out of the bottle then.

I refuse to have electronic remote control locks.


16 posted on 05/30/2025 12:13:09 PM PDT by wally_bert (I cannot be sure for certain, but in my personal opinion I am certain that I am not sure..)
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To: wally_bert
"I refuse to have electronic remote control locks."

Can you imagine your keyring with 14 fat electronic fobs hanging off of it? Or better yet, imagine that comical site for your prototypical elementary school janitor. He'd be changing batteries of one or another virtually every day.

17 posted on 05/30/2025 12:17:55 PM PDT by alancarp (George Orwell was an optimist.)
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To: Vaduz

Will this also ban the Dims in Minnesota from keying up Teslas?


18 posted on 05/30/2025 12:23:21 PM PDT by Tell It Right (1 Thessalonians 5:21 -- Put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is true.)
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To: lowbridge

How ridiculous. Is this Bill Gates’ idea?


19 posted on 05/30/2025 12:29:28 PM PDT by toddausauras (47 47 47 47 47 47 47 47 47 47 47 )
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To: lowbridge

Are they banning ammunition too?


20 posted on 05/30/2025 12:40:16 PM PDT by Husker24 (Pp)
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