Ivory Ban Action Needed!

This may make it easier to contact your state rep:

US Senators


House Representatives

Emailed Lamar.

....Done!.....

Well said Chris.

I for one appreciate your leadership on this important issue.

Emailed my representative this morning.

Thanks for lighting the fire,

Rick

I have emailed them in KY

cueman said:

Thanks for posting the links Joe.

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My pleasure Chris! Have a great week to all.

Ok so Ivory is Ivory, so does the ban cover, walrus, boar tusks, whale teeth, elk ivory...? How does this effect the use or sale of mammoth ivory? Thank you in advance for the stupid questions. Soon we will not be able to use baleen or antlers for any projects...

An important part of the FWS plan is to write into the regulation a "shift of burden of proof", requiring that anyone selling anything that they feel looks like ivory PROVE it is not illegally obtained.

For material that is admittedly elephant ivory they intend to require documentation so difficult (or impossible) for the seller to obtain that said seller will be forced to settle with FWS, surrendering the item(*s) in question and perhaps even pleading guilty to felony charges of attempting to violate the regulation - paying major fines and gaining a criminal record in the process.

For those items the seller declares to contain non-elephant ivory FWS hopes to require extensive scientific proof, including examination by their lab that may require "destructive" testing (wherein the piece is damaged or even ruined in the process). They will only accept the results from their own experts, the FWS lab in Oregon, or third-party experts they approve. The would-be seller will be responsible for the costs of all examination and testing, and you can bet those fees will be outrageous.

All of this is designed to make selling anything containing ANY kind of ivory so difficult and expensive that the general public sill simply not try. As they are currently doing, they will claim to have "reasonable" protocols in place allowing "legitimate" ivory to be sold, but in actual practice it will be almost impossible (and likely risky) for the ordinary citizen to cut through the red tape.

TW

Why do you want to use ivory in the first place ? Do you consider where it comes from or how it is obtained ? Do you just care about what the customer wants and lining your pockets ? Again I ask why ivory ,( when there are far superior materials you can use) . Not bashing anyone , just giving another perspective . 100 years ago ivory was vogue , easily obtained and machinable . Just how many of the top 500 players are using ivory .It's sad that the public is hoodwinked into thinking ivory is cool and that an inlayed cue is better than a plain solid butt or half splice when all the inlays do is make it cost more , doesn't make it play better !!! Humans better realize what is best for the planet ... change is coming ...

Mr Nobody said:

Why do you want to use ivory in the first place ? Do you consider where it comes from or how it is obtained ? Do you just care about what the customer wants and lining your pockets ? Again I ask why ivory ,( when there are far superior materials you can use) . Not bashing anyone , just giving another perspective . 100 years ago ivory was vogue , easily obtained and machinable . Just how many of the top 500 players are using ivory .It's sad that the public is hoodwinked into thinking ivory is cool and that an inlayed cue is better than a plain solid butt or half splice when all the inlays do is make it cost more , doesn't make it play better !!! Humans better realize what is best for the planet ... change is coming ...

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It'd be better for the planet if we just use recycled aluminum for cues.
Why even cut a tree down ?
We should stop using leather tips too. Poor cows and pigs. Parts of their asses are just tips now.
We should switch to flubber tips.

Not everyone supports the use of Ivory...

Mr Nobody said:

Why do you want to use ivory in the first place ? Do you consider where it comes from or how it is obtained ? Do you just care about what the customer wants and lining your pockets ? Again I ask why ivory ,( when there are far superior materials you can use) . Not bashing anyone , just giving another perspective . 100 years ago ivory was vogue , easily obtained and machinable . Just how many of the top 500 players are using ivory .It's sad that the public is hoodwinked into thinking ivory is cool and that an inlayed cue is better than a plain solid butt or half splice when all the inlays do is make it cost more , doesn't make it play better !!! Humans better realize what is best for the planet ... change is coming.

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"Hoodwinked"? Well, we know from past experience that anyone who disagrees with you is just plain wrong, but the market items made of or containing ivory is pursued by a customer base well in excess of one BILLION people. That would be one hell of a lot of hoodwinking, wouldn't you agree?

You say you're "not bashing anyone", but you implicitly characterize a craftsman using ivory as not caring about the customer's wants, and just being interested in "lining [his] pockets". Sounds like bashing to me. The truth is, MY customer base wants ivory - plain and simple.

I would guess that you think zero ivory consumption is "best for the planet". Clearly you are ignorant regarding what's really going on with this attempt to ban all use of ivory. The NGO's who have brainwashed you into think as you do generate HUNDREDS of MILLIONS of dollars promoting their misguided philosophies - this is a business for them, and a very lucrative one at that. They don't give a rat's ass if elephants survive, they're in it for the money.

Don't believe me? Here's a few facts for you:

1) In 2008 106 tons of elephant ivory were sold in a one-time auction by CITES.

2) Asian countries bought virtually all of that ivory, with the bulk of it going to China

3) Detailed studies by independent researchers conclude that in 2014 - 6 years after that one-time auction - the LEGAL Chinese carving markets are still working from that carefully monitored stockpile out of the 2008 auction.

4) The average price per pound of ivory in that auction was less than $80 usd - the reported price for poached illegal ivory is supposedly $1,300 to $1,500 usd per pound.

5) Significantly more than 100 tons of ivory falls to the African floor EVERY YEAR attached to elephants who have died from natural causes - this has been documented by the leading researchers in Africa (Phd - level scientists)

6) Ivory does not rot and is not biodegradable - in that respect it's worse than plastic drinking water bottles because a worldwide ban on ivory trade means it cannot be recycled.

7) So in one room we have a worldwide market that consumes far less than 100 tons of ivory per year - and that market will NOT go away. In another room we have 100+ tons of non-biodegradable ivory polluting the planet each year - and something must be done with that ivory, since it's not going away either.

It seem pretty clear that if we take the two issues described in #7 and simply put them in the same room we solve both problems - with the additional bonus of destroying the poaching and black market [in ivory] virtually overnight simply by exponentially undercutting the market price for raw ivory. All without a single elephant being deliberately killed for its ivory.

If you're as smart as you obviously think you are you may want to ponder these facts a bit and then ask what is "best for the planet"...

TW

cueman said:

I understand you care not for the inlay art value in cues. That is fine. But I also guess you have never used Ivory as a material to work with. It is different than any other material and nothing else works and looks exactly like it. People who want the best light colored material available often choose Ivory. Yes I consider where it comes from. I also consider the villages that get trampled and humans that get killed every year in areas over populated by Elephants and I would like to see the 1989 ban dropped completely and crack down on poachers more and allow all legally culled Elephant parts to be brought to the open market.

That is how real conservation of the Elephants should be handled. Use the money from big game hunters prosecute poachers and protect the Elephants to healthy population numbers. And only allow a certain number to be culled in order to keep a healthy population. Elephant populations are just like areas that stop deer hunting and then get run over with deer populations.

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Well stated

mikeyfrost said:

Not everyone supports the use of Ivory...

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Then don't use it... no one is forcing you.

I don't have an issue with ivory use. It's a bi-product with a purpose, like leather, pig skin, horse hair etc. Ivory has unique properties which are desirable for a whole host of reasons in different fields.

If you don't agree with the ivory ban, you can appeal or lobby in the same way the OP suggests here.

I think if you are into animal welfare issues, lobby against whaling,or killing rhinos for their horn. These practices have little if any public benefit, other than half baked ideas about health benefits and virility.

Sent from my GT-I8190N using Tapatalk

You're right...

I prefer liberal femur inlays.

JV

Mr Nobody said:

Why do you want to use ivory in the first place ? Do you consider where it comes from or how it is obtained ? Do you just care about what the customer wants and lining your pockets ? Again I ask why ivory ,( when there are far superior materials you can use) . Not bashing anyone , just giving another perspective . 100 years ago ivory was vogue , easily obtained and machinable . Just how many of the top 500 players are using ivory .It's sad that the public is hoodwinked into thinking ivory is cool and that an inlayed cue is better than a plain solid butt or half splice when all the inlays do is make it cost more , doesn't make it play better !!! Humans better realize what is best for the planet ... change is coming ...

Click to expand...