Priorities......... We got em

[mrsleeve]

Couple this with the poor guy in Northern ID on trial facing 2 years in prison and 50k in fines for protecting his children and live stock from a Grizzly sow.

Gibson Guitars Raided by US federal Fish and Wildlife, and your vintage guitar may be up for confiscation, with out thorough documentation in the case with it.

Really its nice to see that plants and animals are more of a priority than people anymore, in the eyes of our ever so benevolent leadership that is anyway.

Federal agents swooped in on Gibson Guitar Wednesday, raiding factories and offices in Memphis and Nashville, seizing several pallets of wood, electronic files and guitars. The Feds are keeping mum, but in a statement yesterday Gibson's chairman and CEO, Henry Juszkiewicz, defended his company's manufacturing policies, accusing the Justice Department of bullying the company. "The wood the government seized Wednesday is from a Forest Stewardship Council certified supplier," he said, suggesting the Feds are using the aggressive enforcement of overly broad laws to make the company cry uncle.

It isn't the first time that agents of the Fish and Wildlife Service have come knocking at the storied maker of such iconic instruments as the Les Paul electric guitar, the J-160E acoustic-electric John Lennon played, and essential jazz-boxes such as Charlie Christian's ES-150. In 2009 the Feds seized several guitars and pallets of wood from a Gibson factory, and both sides have been wrangling over the goods in a case with the delightful name "United States of America v. Ebony Wood in Various Forms."

The question in the first raid seemed to be whether Gibson had been buying illegally harvested hardwoods from protected forests, such as the Madagascar ebony that makes for such lovely fretboards. And if Gibson did knowingly import illegally harvested ebony from Madagascar, that wouldn't be a negligible offense. Peter Lowry, ebony and rosewood expert at the Missouri Botanical Garden, calls the Madagascar wood trade the "equivalent of Africa's blood diamonds." But with the new raid, the government seems to be questioning whether some wood sourced from India met every regulatory jot and tittle.

It isn't just Gibson that is sweating. Musicians who play vintage guitars and other instruments made of environmentally protected materials are worried the authorities may be coming for them next.

If you are the lucky owner of a 1920s Martin guitar, it may well be made, in part, of Brazilian rosewood. Cross an international border with an instrument made of that now-restricted wood, and you better have correct and complete documentation proving the age of the instrument. Otherwise, you could lose it to a zealous customs agent—not to mention face fines and prosecution.

John Thomas, a law professor at Quinnipiac University and a blues and ragtime guitarist, says "there's a lot of anxiety, and it's well justified." Once upon a time, he would have taken one of his vintage guitars on his travels. Now, "I don't go out of the country with a wooden guitar."

The tangled intersection of international laws is enforced through a thicket of paperwork. Recent revisions to 1900's Lacey Act require that anyone crossing the U.S. border declare every bit of flora or fauna being brought into the country. One is under "strict liability" to fill out the paperwork—and without any mistakes.

It's not enough to know that the body of your old guitar is made of spruce and maple: What's the bridge made of? If it's ebony, do you have the paperwork to show when and where that wood was harvested and when and where it was made into a bridge? Is the nut holding the strings at the guitar's headstock bone, or could it be ivory? "Even if you have no knowledge—despite Herculean efforts to obtain it—that some piece of your guitar, no matter how small, was obtained illegally, you lose your guitar forever," Prof. Thomas has written. "Oh, and you'll be fined $250 for that false (or missing) information in your Lacey Act Import Declaration."

Consider the recent experience of Pascal Vieillard, whose Atlanta-area company, A-440 Pianos, imported several antique Bösendorfers. Mr. Vieillard asked officials at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species how to fill out the correct paperwork—which simply encouraged them to alert U.S. Customs to give his shipment added scrutiny.

There was never any question that the instruments were old enough to have grandfathered ivory keys. But Mr. Vieillard didn't have his paperwork straight when two-dozen federal agents came calling.

Facing criminal charges that might have put him in prison for years, Mr. Vieillard pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of violating the Lacey Act, and was handed a $17,500 fine and three years probation.

Given the risks, why don't musicians just settle for the safety of carbon fiber? Some do—when concert pianist Jeffrey Sharkey moved to England two decades ago, he had Steinway replace the ivories on his piano with plastic.

Still, musicians cling to the old materials. Last year, Dick Boak, director of artist relations for C.F. Martin & Co., complained to Mother Nature News about the difficulty of getting elite guitarists to switch to instruments made from sustainable materials. "Surprisingly, musicians, who represent some of the most savvy, ecologically minded people around, are resistant to anything about changing the tone of their guitars," he said.

You could mark that up to hypocrisy—artsy do-gooders only too eager to tell others what kind of light bulbs they have to buy won't make sacrifices when it comes to their own passions. Then again, maybe it isn't hypocrisy to recognize that art makes claims significant enough to compete with environmentalists' agendas

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904787404576530520471223268.html?KEYWORDS=guitar

If you want a link to the Grizzly story I will go find it.. Really though is this what our govt should be spending money on??? Arent there enough crimes and what not that this money could see better use in solving/fighting. Or how about maybe using it to keep the illegals out and send them home??? Oh wait .............................


Discuss

[mar1t1me]

Yes, there are better things to spend money on....

Problem is, the gov't loves low hanging fruit especially when it involves revenue enhancement. This is perfect for them. Set up ludicrous amounts of paperwork surrounding virtually unprovable facts, then impose draconian fines for lack of perfect paperwork.

And being a musician myself, I can say since fine instruments tend to last hundreds of years, I have no problem using the right woods for the job.

But even though my violinmaker dates his instruments, I'd better get some papers from him......:roll: What horse shit....

[Wiglaf]

wow this is pretty fucked up

[MR E30 325is]

If the government, and all of the governments and leadership throughout all of time had devoted the money and time they spent on conquering, killing and enslaving to a more rewarding goal, such as creating technology to better lives, and uniting all people regardless of color or creed, the world would never have the problems we are facing today.

[mrsleeve]

^

Govt does not create shit its a parasite its the private sector for profit outfits that create and advance tech and science, and with out military tech we would not have half the shit we have.

[Wiglaf]

well there is a give and take. people don't know when to quit, if something is endangered and nobody steps in, then bam. extinct.

That's not exactly the case here, this is just fucked up.

[mrsleeve]

Well I do agree to a point with that.

But when your Old school instrument that obviously dates to a time when those resources were in common use, why the fuck should they be subject to confiscation now ???? Unless you have every I doted and T crossed on your 47 govt approved forms that have to be with you all the time??? Its a fucking musical instrument not a dangerous machine gun or high intensity nuclear material......

And when the company that are importing the shit from legal approved growers and importers WTF man, a company like Gibson is not going to risk their reputation and company over some wood that does not have the proper paper work. Its all BS because they are fighting the feds on a previous charge (and prolly winning )


And yes Grizzly's are endangered but that still does not negate your rights to defend yourself, home, children and property (livestock) form one wanting to eat any of the above Endangered or not.

Both of these deals reek of Cass Sunstine if you ask me.