Should a C-Card be Required to Buy Gear?

[Annemf]

Who are you going to put in charge? And how much will we have to pay them to be in charge? Do you want to pay a little more for your SCUBA equipment to pay for the c-card inspectors? Do you want to have a "war on SCUBA" when the inevitable black market develops?
SCUBA is certainly not the only dangerous sport.

Personally, I question mandates on helmets and other safety equipment / rules for kids, but laws about adult recreational choices - no way.

[ what is left of our] Freedom is very important - So important that it is necessary to let any idiot say whatever they want to protect free speech, for example.

 

[seaducer]

Should a car be sold to someone with suspended license?

No, driving is a privledge, not a right, and far too many unqualified and unskilled people are out there on the roads. I think driving should be 1000 times MORE regulated and enforced than it is. I work on the side of the road as well as driving all day...

Should a gun be sold to someone without hunter safety class?

Sure, guns have more purpose than hunting. I have 2, but don't hunt. I love target shooting though. Now if you ask should a hunting license be sold? On teh fence, I took the hunter safety course and about strangled the instructor for firing a gun behind him on the range. THE most unsafe act ever witnessed by me regarding guns.

Should yeast be sold to someone under the age of 21?

Sure, yeast has more uses than beer making.

There are more important things to regulate - guns, alcohol, cars.... I think it is silly to regulate scuba equipment. It is nothing more than expensive toys.

I agree.

As the inspiration of this thread, I will just say I didn't have the warm fuzzies with what the OP of that thread was saying. It sounded to me and many others as well that he wanted to get some gear and go diving without taking a class. I was not about to give him that information, and simply told him he will learn more about the gear needed for diving in class.

As for requiring a c card to buy gear? I don't think it is needed...

Oh, and yes in the shops I use, they check cards before filling a tank.

 

[jimdiverman]

Oh, and yes in the shops I use, they check cards before filling a tank.

As it should be...

 

[Belle67]

hmmm last I knew you had to have a c-card to get an air fill or rent a tank... isnt that restrictive enough to keep most non cert out of the water? Without air, how else will one breath submerged?

 

[offthewall1]

Absolutely not... there is no law requiring this in the United states. It would be ridiculous for a dive shop to refuse a sale based on a lack of a c-card. Gear is readliy available second hand on Ebay, other websites, in pawn shops etc... Should people need a card of some kind to buy a baseball bat or a football or a go kart or anything else they can harm themselves with... lets be real.

 

[vladimir]

I don't mind when the 50% of my income that the government takes goes to defend our country, provide medical care to the needy, fund NASA, or to support the occasional single welfare mother. I am not thrilled when it goes to fund needless regulations to protect us from ourselves. And don't get me started on Sarbanes-Oxley. So I vote "give me a break".

 

[offthewall1]

As it should be...

Why?

People use tanks for a variety of reasons - not just for scuba diving. We do paintball fills, people carry tanks in their autos for tire inflation, people keep air tanks in workshops for a variety of reasons... and dive shops are a logical place for people to get these fills.

There is no law about filling air tanks either... and in fact, refusal to fill an air tank could be construed as predjudice. Our attorney's and many dive knowledgable attorneys say you have two options...

1. Fill tanks for anyone that asks - and never ask for a c-card

or

2. If you do ask for a c-card - you better ask every single customer for one whether you know them or not.

The first makes far more sense. The reason is simple... giving someone quality air in a tank is justifiable no matter what the eventual use is. The only problem you face is negligence--- which would be if you gave someone bad air - and they ended up sick or dead because of the quality of the air. Since there is no law in the US requiring a person to get certified to dive... there is no requirement to require a c-card to purchase air or any other dive equipment.

 

[oreocookie]

I'm amazed at how a simple poorly-worded question can cause a discussion/massive argument against regulating an industry/sport/whatever too much, to the point that I'm not even going to bother rephrasing it in this thread. Continuing in the direction it's gone though, if it seemed that in asking the question, I was suggesting that I'm totally for demanding to see c-cards anytime somebody gets within a foot of the door of a dive shop, I'm not. It doesn't make sense. sure it might keep untrained people from jumping in the water and being an idiot, but if the person wants to do something idiotic, they're going to find a way, being it with scuba or with uh, a snowblower, and last i checked, you don't need anything but some $$$ to get one of those at home depot or wherever. an idiot is going to be an idiot whether they've got a c-card or not.

should a new diver have to wait until after getting certified to get gear, could be a good idea, but nobody's going to stop him from getting it before he goes to class, hopefully though, he'll be smart enough to not try to use it before he knows what to do with it.

 

[Diver Dennis]

I worry way more about the instabuddy who THINKS he knows it all and doesn't or the person that has been there so many times that they become complacent.

I actually worded that badly. I'm fine with a new diver who lets me know he is a new diver but a diver just winging it? That's pretty dangerous. I usually solo.

 

[DiveSite]

Maybe I'm looking at this issue too simplistic. As a retailer I will sell any equipment to anyone without a c-card. I will even sell a tank to a non-certified person. I will not fill the tank for someone that isn't certified though. Without air, a person shouldn't get into trouble.....with that said there is the exception to the rule. If the person claims they need the tank and air for paintball, airguns or air tools I have them sign a waiver that they will not use the air for breathing purposes. Comments???