Matt Reynolds is tired of having to fix tattoos applied by "kitchen magicians" and thinks new regulations will cut down on amateur tattoos and make body art safer in Catoosa County.
Catoosa County commissioners on Tuesday approved new health department regulations on piercing and tattoos. Commissioners and shop owners both said they hope the rules will standardize the business and cut down on "renegade" and "fly-by-night" shops.
The new regulations mandate cleanliness, require twice-yearly inspections and set specific guidelines for disposal of needles. The rules take effect at the end of the year.
Mr. Reynolds runs Mr. Lucky Tattoo on LaFayette Road in Fort Oglethorpe. He and other artists say home-based, unlicensed shops -- called "kitchen magicians" or "scratchers" -- are rampant in the region.
"That's going on all over Georgia and Tennessee and Alabama," said Al Creamer, owner of Ace's Tattoo Co., a quarter-mile north of Mr. Lucky.
Mr. Reynolds said people often come into his shop asking him to fixed botched art. Most of it can be fixed, but there's only so much that can be done, he said.
"We always ask, 'Was it your buddy or your cousin?'" he said. "It's always their buddy or their cousin."
Some of the people who come in are younger than 18, meaning the shop can't do any work on them, he said.
John Klepper, environmental health manager with the Catoosa County Health Department, said state laws regulating tattoo shops have been on the books for 15 years. By adopting the regulations, the county makes them enforceable and allows the health department to require licensing and training through magistrate court.
"It's kind of just picking up with the rest of the world," said Pat Campbell, an artist at Mr. Lucky who is licensed in Colorado, Florida, Tennessee and Alabama.
Mr. Reynolds said his shop already complies with about 90 percent of the new rules. He'll have to add a stainless-steel sink to replace a plastic one and keep employee vaccination records on file.
Mr. Creamer said he hopes the regulations will cut down on the amateur shops, but that will depend on enforcement. When similar rules were imposed on his shop in Florida, the health department didn't pursue the illegal shops, he said.
"It's just like the super-speeder law -- it's parting us with our money, not protecting us," he said. "They're not going to care about the people they can't collect money off of."
He called some requirements, such as requiring staff to know CPR procedures, ridiculous.
Both Mr. Lucky and Ace's will have to spend money to meet the new code, but Mr. Reynolds called it a worthwhile expense.
"If it's going to make it safer for me and for them, I'm all for it," he said.