[TheForge] why church bells are not stolen was Re: the theft of metal public

[Ries Niemi]

This is a situation where the only thing that works is government.
As I said, here in Washington, we have laws regarding the buying of scrap, and they are enforced.
NO kegs can be bought for example, unless the seller can prove they are in the beer business.
NO wire with the insulation burnt off, unless you can prove in writing it was done legally, not over a campfire in your backyard.

This is not to say that there arent scrap dealers who cheat, but they are few and rare. Most bigger stolen stuff gets hauled out of state, usually a minimum of 500 miles, and is seldom worth the gas money to do so.
Some guys stole thousands of feet of copper wire from the runway lighting at the airport a couple of years ago, and they went to jail. 

But you need a budget for enforcement to make these laws work. 

Metal property and metallic wire — Requirements for transactions.

(1) No scrap metal business may enter into a transaction to purchase or receive private metal property or nonferrous metal property from any person who cannot produce at least one piece of current government-issued picture identification, including a valid driver's license or identification card issued by any state.

     (2) No scrap metal business may purchase or receive private metal property or commercial metal property unless the seller: (a) Has a commercial account with the scrap metal business; (b) can prove ownership of the property by producing written documentation that the seller is the owner of the property; or (c) can produce written documentation that the seller is an employee or agent authorized to sell the property on behalf of a commercial enterprise.

     (3) No scrap metal business may enter into a transaction to purchase or receive metallic wire that was burned in whole or in part to remove insulation unless the seller can produce written proof to the scrap metal business that the wire was lawfully burned.

     (4)(a) No transaction involving private metal property or nonferrous metal property may be made in cash or with any person who does not provide a street address under the requirements of RCW 19.290.020 except as described in (b) of this subsection. The person with whom the transaction is being made may only be paid by a nontransferable check, mailed by the scrap metal business to a street address provided under RCW 19.290.020, no earlier than three days after the transaction was made. A transaction occurs on the date provided in the record required under RCW 19.290.020.

     (b) A scrap metal business that is in compliance with this chapter that digitally captures: (i) A copy of one piece of current government-issued picture identification, including a current driver's license or identification card issued by any state and (ii) either a picture or video of either the material subject to the transaction in the form received or the material subject to the transaction within the vehicle which the material was transported to the scrap metal business, may pay up to a maximum of thirty dollars in cash, stored value device, or electronic funds transfer. The balance of the value of the transaction may be made by nontransferable check, stored value device, or electronic funds transfer at the time the transaction is made. A scrap metal business's usage of video surveillance shall be sufficient to comply with this subsection (4)(b)(ii) as long as the video captures the material subject to the transaction. A digital image or picture taken under this subsection must be available for two years from the date of transaction, while a video recording must be available for thirty days.

     (5) No scrap metal business may purchase or receive beer kegs from anyone except a manufacturer of beer kegs or licensed brewery.


ries

On Apr 17, 2015, at 4:29 PM, terry l. ridder <terrylr at blauedonau.com> wrote:

> Hello;
> 
> I have been informed by a friend, who is a vicar, in the Church of
> England as to why the church bells are not stolen.
> 
> every last church bell is cataloged in a government database/journal.
> every last church bell is photographed by the church, the insurance
> company and the government.
> every last church bell is unique in design and decorations.
> 
> a church bell showing up at any scrap yard in the UK would be questioned
> even by the scum scrap yard.
> 
> Size and weight are not the issue. there are some church bells that are
> the size of handbells. Easily stolen.
> 
> the larger bells would definitely require some heavy lifting.
> 
> There is one church which has a bell named George.
> George, is only rung on Easter and Christmas.
> George, is a huge bell.
> George, hangs staionary.
> The clapper is what is pulled when George is rung.
> The clapper on George is actually padded so that George is not too loud.
> 
> I would wager a bet that a person would be killed just by being in the
> bell chamber of the bell tower when the bells are being rung out.
> The sound that close in the bell chamber must be painful.
> 
> -- 
> terry l. ridder ><>
> ______________________________________________________________
> TheForge mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/theforge
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:TheForge at mailman.qth.net
> 
> TheForge mail list group photo site is
> http://www.shutterfly.com
> Login: blacksmithblacksmith at hotmail.com
> Password: anvil
> 
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

Ries Niemi
Industrial Artist
WWW.RiesNiemi.com