Local governments often pass laws and ordinances that may not stand up to legal challenges. It seems that if it's littering or tresspassing they are concerned about- then that is what they should be prosecuting.
The problem is that people who trash pick and scrap are considered lower class by these officials and therefore are not politically threatening. People like us do not have lobbies that work for us or really any kind of public voice. In their rush to look like they are doing something, they feel safe walking all over the likes of us.
In Cincinnati, council is working on an ordinance that would require anyone selling scrap to be licensed, it would also require scrap yards to pay for metal with checks. What other businesses have to pay their vendors with checks? Is that legal? What about pawn shops and scrap gold outfits? Like nothing stolen ever is sold there. I really don't see how that would stand up to a legal challenge - cash is legal tender - how can you ban it? They won't mess with pawnshops though. Middle class people use pawn shops and cash for gold places. People they don't want to rattle.
Somehow, we need to come up with a voice - a loud one.
Btw, a garden hoe is also good for getting stuff out of dumpsters.
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