The state senate advances a law making it tougher for metal thieves to unload their stuff. Lee’s Summit Senator Will Kraus had sponsored the original bill requiring record-keeping by scrap metal dealers when people show up with a lot of copper pipe or copper wire. But he’s added some new things with a proposed revision. He says the thefts of catalytic converters have become big business–because the things have platinum in them.
Another senator has added the theft of Google cable to the list. Google is installing high-tech cable in the Kansas City area–the first metropolitan area in the country to get it. A Senator from St. Louis has added manhole covers to the list of things salvage yards have to keep records on.
The bill requires detailed record keeping, including copies of drivers licenses or other photo-IDs from people selling large amounts of material. Suggestions have been made that scrap dealers keep the merchandise around for a while in case somebody wants to claim it as stolen. But Kraus says that’s not practical, and it’s something the industry has resisted.
One more favorable vote sends the bill to the House.
