I’m an evil Libertarian and I want children to die of lead poisoning

We have a new law, something that should warm the cockles of every Statist’s heart.  Oh, and deary me, it protects the children.  Oh then why would I be against such a law?  I must hate the children. . .

I suggest you read this. (linked from here.)

From the blog post in question:

Under the law it is now illegal, as of yesterday, to sell or distribute any product–toy, book, clothes, electronic gadget, you name it–aimed primarily at children 12 and under without first having every accessible element in that product–fabric, appliques, ink, zippers, buttons, switches, doll hair, you name it–certified by a third-party lab (not, for instance, the zipper maker) as having less than 600 parts per million of lead. The law includes substantial criminal penalties and allows state attorneys general, as well as the Consumer Product Safety Commission, to enforce its provisions.

Why deary me, Mr. Swann how can you be against that? Are you just one of those Obama-Haters that jump on any manna from heaven legislation passed by our batshit insane recently enlightened collection of asshats Congress?

Well, no, fact is, this is just the implementation of another wonderful idea that came to our last Congress (you know, the one under George W.  Satan) in the heat of another crisis.  Remember when all the Chinese toys popped up with lead in them?  Oh don’t you remember the chaos in the streets, the thousands dead and dying, and the imminent need to do something?  Well, I forgot about it too.  But by God, Congress fixed the problem.  And now we have a situation where third party testing is required of everything you might sell to a kid.  This includes everything from your mother’s crafting business on eBay to hand-made Christmas ornaments.  No resale provisions, you sell stuff out of Goodwill, you’re liable.  All those neat collectibles? Uh-huh illegal.  You see it doesn’t matter what the lead level might actually be, if you don’t have it all tested by that mythical third-party, you’re breaking the law.  Hell, if you give your old Rubik’s Cube or Cabbage Patch doll to your kid for their birthday, it’s illegal.  Sell or distribute, you see.

I have a mental image of the Burgermeister Meisterburger singing though the halls of the Capitol:

And what really pissed me off, this quote (from here):

My daughter works in a used bookstore. TODAY they pulled all the books from the children’s section that had any kind of metal or plastic or toy-like attachment, spiral bindings, balls or things attached, board books, anything that might be targeted under this law, and they very quietly trashed them all. I say “very quietly” because the bookstore had a meeting with employees and told them to be careful not to start a panic. If anyone asked what they were doing they were told to say that they were “rearranging their inventory.” No one was allowed to tell anyone about the new law, and no one was allowed to take any of the doomed-for-destruction books home or give them away.

And people look at me like I’m the crazy one when I say I’m a Libertarian.  But hey, we’re keeping children safe from vintage G.I.Joes.