Is it illegal to tattoo a minor without profit?
Sunday, October 18th, 2009 at
9:51 am
One of my friends wants to be a tattoo artist and she knew I wanted a tattoo and offered to give me one for free. My parents are okay with it, their only rule was they wouldn’t sign for anything and if I can find a legal way around the paperwork they don’t care what I do with my body. So would it be legal for her to give me a tattoo? I would love to help her out and I would enjoy a tattoo but I don’t want to cause any potential trouble.
Mail this post
Tagged with: paperwork • parents • potential trouble • tattoo artist
Filed under: Tattoo Q & A
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
Sure. As long as no cops are in sight. Why not??
its not illegal to tatto a minor if you have the parents concent… "and they are 14+ in age" but they have to have a parents concent. and if your not a professional its illegal anyways. you have to have certain things like a certificate of pathical illnesses like stds and all those kind of things.
I’m pretty sure it’s still illegal.
I wouldnt get anything huge or obvious…and if ur parents say ok i dont see why not…..
honeslty i would wait till ur older. i got my tat at 18 and regret it. its stupid
Paid or unpaid–without the CONSENT of the parents, no, a tattooist can not do the work on you. Not in any state.
Unless you’re an emancipated minor who has the court papers to prove it. Which is pretty rare.
If your friend is willing to do it and your parents are cool with it i see no problem with your friend doing it.
I don’t know how anyone would find out unless you told them, but I’m not sure i would trust her to tattoo you just yet, regardless of how good of friends you are.
tell her to tattoo a ham or something instead, probably safer for both of you.
That’s a real pederass question.
no. and dotn let an inexpierenced person tattoo you…even if its a friend.
It’s illegal to tattoo a minor, full stop. Regardless of parental consent, regardless of profit.
Also, it’ll be illegal for your friend to be performing tattoos on anyone at all, without being licensed and health and safety registered and all that stuff.
That’s why it costs money to get tattooed in a proper studio – there’s a million legal things you have to comply with. Anyone tattooing on the side (scratching) is breaking the law, regardless of consent or how careful or sanitary they’re being.
nope not without parential consent
Helping her out is one thing. Being stuck with a crappy tattoo is quite another. If you do go through with it, for god’s sake, don’t rely on her to take care of the hygiene. Make sure you check things out for yourself and that you know what to check for. And remember you usually get what you pay for.
nope, you can’t legally tattoo a minor without parental permission, even if its free.
this isn’t a rhetorical question right? well anyways…umm…i guess if the tattoo artist is was experienced with a certificate or license and let you know of std’s or something and you had your parents consent and you have to be 14+ years old, and they were okay with it then it wouldn’t be illegal. hope this helped
You have to get it in writing, it’s the law. You can’t get around the paper work.
Your parents are being sarcastic pretty much by saying if you can get arounf the law you can get it, (which you can’t)
No she can lose her hopes of pretty much every being an artist you HAVE to be 18.
-Connor
Depending on where in the country you reside the laws are different everywhere. For instance, I learned how to tattoo in Maryland, where the minimum age is 16 with parental consent. In Georgia, it is the same, in Texas, it is 17. Some other places, such as Oklahoma, it will be much tougher since they just got tattooing legalized there within the past few years. Doesn’t really matter where you go, the median age is about the same everywhere.
However…
If you would like to get tattooed, go to someone with some experience. Chances are that this friend of yours is still working out of her kitchen, which is great since everyone needs to learn somewhere; hell, I worked off of my kitchen table for years.
From that experience, I can tell you a few things.
One, the laws governing tattooing vary wildly from state to state. What may go unnoticed in one state may be a jailable offense elsewhere. Once you get that tattoo put on, you can’t take it off, and it’s really, really hard to prove who did it without paperwork.
Two, if you decide to take your chances having an inexperienced *artist* work on you, that’s all you. Putting a design on skin is NOT like putting a design on paper or any other medium you can think of. Paper and canvas and board don’t jump, squirm, or complain that what you’re doing hurts.
Three, if you absolutely have got to have this ink done, have your friend terrorize a whole bag of grapefruits before sitting down to do your tattoo. Grapefruits and oranges are the closest thing to skin other than a practice skin to work on, and that way she can get a feel for what she’s about to do. Much like skin, if you screw up on a fruit, it’s permanant also.
So, is it illegal to tattoo a minor without profit? No, absolutely not. Is it illegal to tattoo a minor without parental consent? Absolutely.
The laws governing tattooing are somewhat lax when it comes to doing it out of the home, or other than a shop, and one takes their chances when they do this. I myself have tattooed in and out of shops for the last 15 years, and the only time I do a minor is if either A) Mom or Dad sits in on it and is well aware of the piece being done, or B) They sign a release.
i dont think so i got a tattoo done when i was 14 from a homie who had just came out of prison and i had my moms consent so honestly i dont think its illegal plus its your body do what ever you want with it
Inkslayer (i think) got it just about dead on. I work out of a shop in California and it is ABSOLUTELY WITHOUT QUESTION illegal to tattoo a minor in my state, county and city.
Your friend WANTS to be a tattoo artist or IS a tattoo artist? How many people has she worked on? Whats the quality of her equipment? how does she sterilize her equipment? Does she sterilize her equipment? Where does she get her supplies? Needles? Tubes?
Hey, you know what, go for it. I was a kitchen magician for a few years before I landed a really good shop. The difference, ive been drawing and practicting and painting…ive been an artist almost my entire life, most people just think they can pick it up and tattoo…oh how wrong they are when they get knocked out from doing a crappy tattoo.
Best advice I can give, wait until you are 18. Stop trying to be like your gutter punk emo friends and stop idolizing the garbage ass bands or crappy gangster rap people. Pay a professional. Think about what you want long and f*&^$’n hard about what you want on your body permanently.
But hey, stupid people will do what stupid people do. However, people like you and your friend are the reason I’m not considered by many to be a professional artist in the eyes of ALL society, as all tattoo ARTISTS should be.. Also, you kids keep my pockets laced and my portfolio pictures full of GREAT cover-ups.
So go for it. What happens in her kitchen stays in her kitchen, unless you end up in high school with Hep C…man, that would totally kill prom night wouldnt it? Have fun dying from liver complications when your 30…
you really want that tattoo, right?