Rockhounds and Ivory - Proposed and new Federal
Regulations on possession, buying and selling Ivory. This fact sheet
was created as it applies to firearns, but the laws and rules also apply
to Rockhounds and Lapidary Artists. Ivory Ban Fact Sheet. (PDF)
Arizona introduced a bill HB2176 back in January with 15 state sponsors, it was referred to the committees on Rules and Commerce, but there was no action in either committee before the session ended. We have been told by a number of sponsors that this bill will be brought up during the 2017 session. All of the bill's sponsors have been contacted by the AAPS and we have received positive response from a number of them. Updates will be sent to all members living in Arizona as needed.
Colorado Assembly introduced House Bill 16-1341 with 5 sponsors. It passed through the house and was slated for a Senate committee hearing the last week of April. We had less the 48 hours to contact Colorado AAPS members to try and get a few members to travel to Denver to testify in committee. Tracie Bennitt and Terry Zundell traveled to Denver and were able to testify. The bill was defeated in committee, but will likely be re-introduced during the 2017 session. Fortunately, one of the Bills authors has been receptive to our recommendation to exclude extinct species, and that clause will hopefully be included in the revised bill.While we will do everything possible to keep you informed of any legislation that includes a ban on fossil ivory and extinct species, and also contact bill sponsors with our objections to these bills as written, much more weight is placed on residents of the states in question contacting their legislatures directly. State legislators are much more responsive to contact from their own constituents then any organization such as AAPS from outside their state boundaries. If these bills are to be defeated or amended, it will take positive action from individual members in their home states. Please visit our State by State Fossil Ivory Ban Page for more information.
CALIFORNIA FOSSIL IVORY ALERT - Our First warning to any dealers with a business in California or those dealers that plan to attend the West Coast Gem & Mineral Show (Fall), Santa Ana CA November 11 -13 of this year (or any show in California). The California Ivory ban goes into effect on July 1st, and it will be illegal to sell any fossil ivory in the state after that date. The legislation's definition; "Ivory" means a tooth or tusk from a species of elephant, hippopotamus, mammoth, mastodon, walrus, warthog, whale, or narwhal, or a piece thereof, whether raw ivory or worked ivory, and includes a product containing, or advertised as containing, ivory. You will risk confiscation of your fossil ivory and very stiff fines and other penalties for having any of the legally collected material available during the shows or for sale in your business.
