I have serious doubts that the paint used in tagging has been bought.
I don’t know… maybe its all stolen… but that’s alot of stolen paint. My guess (and it is only a guess) is that alot of it comes from the big box stores.
Here it says that taggers lose points if they buy the paint instead of stealing it.
http://www.sellwoodwestmoreland.com/docs/online/Understanding%20graffiti%20and%20taggers.pdf
I believe Europe and other countries dealt with this issue years ago. I know here at home the NYC MTA subways did. It is just catching on in the US now? Yeah, we are falling far behind the rest of the world in so many things anymore. And I don’t believe that spray paint artists have to or actually do steal it…maybe it’s chic in some circles, but some of the artists are sincere in their art just not sensible about their canvass.
And a very nice compliment in there for older women too. I know a few who in their youth got saddled with useless lugs who don’t work but seem to have time for all kinds of destructive behavior. Tax the paint and cut out welfare to adult able bodied males.
Maybe so, but a big part of the “art” is the resentment of others having property. There is a big “stick-in-the-eye” component in graffiti.
A few years ago, I found what looked like a gang’s mark for its territory on my garbage can. I covered it with spray paint (I tried to match the color of the can itself, but did not quite get a true match), and the villain did not re-mark the can.
I do not remember all of the details, but I believe that it is extremely difficult for a minor to buy spray paint in Salt Lake County. Of course, not all of these overly-proud “artists” are minors.
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Wouldn’t change at all. If I signed the lease agreement then I’m responsible for the equipment regardless. Personally I wouldn’t give up care and control of any vehicle unless I too had an agreement with the other party to pay for damages. I generally stay away from leases and rentals… I’ve paid for too many scuff boards, dents, and scratches over the years. I guess rail cars are treated differently… maybe the rail lease companies accept vandalism… the truck lease places sure don’t.
The selling of spray paint to minors is illegal in the US, not because of the tagging concern, but the “huffing” concern.
Under 18 years of age, you can’t buy it.
Well, that’s certainly a good thing… I didn’t know that. Maybe they need to further curtail the sale of spray paint somehow by selling only to licensed contractors via a tightly controlled supply chain network. Making the stuff hard to get would at least reduce the vandalism.
I have no access to numbers, but I have the impression that there are far more legitimate users of spray paint than there are taggers. To limit sales to licensed contractors could cause a great outcry on the part of legitimate users.
You don’ think someone who will go out and do $10,000 worth of defacement property damage would steal a can of paint?
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Too bad…he had talent.
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I have seen a lot of graffiti on rail cars and RoWs as well as some buildings in Europe. If anything, it may be worse than it was 10-20 years ago.
It’s ironic, because at the height of the railroads’ financial miseries back in the mid-70;s, boxcars never looked better thanks to all the leasing and short-line (pseudo-)ownership.