Kevin,
You reside in PA which has not enacted any ivory restrictions as of yet.......... https://www.ammoland.com/2016/06/federal-ivory-ban-rule
However, you are confronted with House Bill 248, sponsored by state Representative Madeleine Dean (D-153), would prohibit the import, sale, purchase, barter or possession of ivory or rhinoceros horn with limited exception. Under this legislation, purchasing and selling ivory or ivory products would become a misdemeanor of the second degree and would set unreasonable fines of $1,000 or more.legislation banning the sale of ivory and ivory products.
I was dead serious when I said I'd buy your cue were it not for the ivory ban. When I posted on this thread in 2014 about how much I loved your cue design and y admiration for Tim Scruggs, it actually was the reason why I commissioned Jerry Rauenzahn to build me the same version. If you recall, I checked with you to make sure you were coll about me doing that before I placed my order. I love the cue that Jerry made me but yours was the cue I loved at first sight and still do. So when cues ship from a state that have a ivory ban into another state with an ivory ban, those shipments have a much higher chance of getting inspected by any carrier. Every package gets x-rayed nowadays and ivory detection has become much more pronounced. You can sell your cue within PA but can't sell it to anyone in New Jersey (Ivory Ban - June 2014) or New York (Ivory Ban - Aug. 2014) or any other states that have banned ivory sales, like California (July 1, 2016). People that live in states with ivory bans can;t even place an order with an out of state cue-maker if the cue contains any ivory.
The Federal Ban went into effect July 6, 2016 and the new rule covers “interstate commerce” in only elephant ivory and not fossil ivory. It includes two exceptions to the near-total ban:
1. The antique exception covers ivory that's 100 years old or older and was never repaired or modified since 1973
2. The de minimis exception covers ivory that is less than 100 years old and is further narrowed by six other criteria, all of which must be met.
For the de minimis exception for ivory less than 100 years old, the additional narrowing criteria are listed below with some annotations to make them a bit clearer. In order to qualify under the de minimis exception, every one of the following six criteria must be met:
(i) If the item is located within the United States, the ivory was imported into the United States prior to January 18, 1990, or was imported into the United States under a Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) pre-Convention certificate with no limitation on its commercial use (since little, if any, of the ivory imported “preban” has any documentation, this is potentially a very problematic issue – even post-ban ivory may not have been transferred with adequate documentation);
(ii) If the item is located outside the United States, (it can be imported only if) the ivory was removed from the wild prior to February 26, 1976;
(iii) The ivory is a fixed or integral component or components of a larger manufactured or handcrafted item and is not in its current form the primary source of the value of the item, that is, the ivory does not account for more than 50 percent of the value of the item (knife handles or ivory nuts that could be removed from an item and meet all other criteria of the de minimis exception are covered by the exception. However, this exception would not allow knife handles, ivory nuts or other components made from ivory to be sold or traded independently. The 50% value rule will likely be appraised based on value of an identical or similar knife with other than ivory handle or ivory decoration and if it exceeds 50% more value that would fail this criteria.);
(iv) The ivory is not raw (any existing raw ivory can no longer be traded or worked and then traded, period);
(v) The manufactured or handcrafted item is not made wholly or primarily of ivory, that is, the ivory component or components do not account for more than 50 percent of the item by volume (if an item is less than half ivory and qualifies under all of the other de minimis criteria, it could be legal to sell in interstate trade. However, just putting a knife on a big wooden base or surrounding it with a display case is unlikely to bring the knife within this exception);
(vi) The total weight of the ivory component or components is less than 200 grams (approx. 7 ounces); and
(vii) The item was manufactured or handcrafted before the effective date of this rule (July 6, 2016).
"It is also extremely important to understand that the term “interstate commerce” is a legal term open to an exceptionally broad interpretation as a result of numerous precedent-setting court rulings. Advertising of any sort, including a mere posting in an internet forum or on Facebook, even if not public, or any other promotion or offer sell, regardless of medium, could implicate interstate commerce.
Traveling to another state to sell is, without any doubt, interstate commerce. Even if you sell in the state in which you live, out-of-state customers or alleged “straw man” deals could violate the law. Moreover, many such sales involve telephone conversations or emails that could make them subject to being “interstate commerce.” There have already been prosecutions under existing law for such transactions.
This new rule does not prohibit donating or giving away your ivory specimen, or receiving an ivory item as a donation or a gift, provided it was lawfully acquired and there is no exchange for other goods or services involved. You can also pass along your ivory to your heirs."
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FWS has provided a fairly straightforward discussion of the rule, along with a table describing enforcement and all of the criteria for exceptions at http://www.fws.gov/international/pdf/questions-and-answers-african-elephant-4d-final-rule.pdf.
Anyway, Kevin if there was a legal way to buy your cue risk free, I'd have already reached out to you. Like I earlier posted, I love the cue Jerry R. made for me which used different veneers than your cue but the design style is the very same. Jerry worked hard to get my cue completed before the CA ivory ban started 7/1/16. Your cue was the one I always wanted and candidly, still do. As I've been known to previously remark on the Forum...."Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery."
Matt B.
Good info provided here Matt.
Thanks
Kevin