Due to regulations set forth by the chatham co health dept. (Sept 07). Anyone under the age of 18 can not be pierced in a safe and clean environment by a professional piercer. This "ruling" has taken away your consent, your informed decision, as a parent or guardian to allow your teenage son/daughter to get a piercing. Even if the piercing studio requires you to be present, informed and sign a consent form. However, the powers that be find it acceptable to allow ear piercings to continue to be offered by establishments that "pierce" with a device that can NOT be sterilized. This "gun", as it is referred to, has plastic parts and therefore cannot be autoclaved (sterilized). The "gun" slams the poorly designed jewelry through the ear while it is in contact with the tissue being pierced. This is done all day every day with the same equipment "guns". The users of these "guns" will respond to this statement by saying, "the jewelry is sterile". What they don't state or know is that once that "sterile" jewelry is put into a non-sterile tool that touches fresh openings in the skin all day every day, it is no longer sterile. That "gun" is then pressed against the ears of adults, teens, pre-teens, and don't forget the toddlers. Once pressed to the skin, BAM, it slams a new opening in the skin. Now parts of this non-sterilized or "dirty", as it should be referred to, gun are in contact with fresh openings in someones flesh. Giving or receiving the microscopic joys of Hepatitis and other fun lifelong and life limiting diseases. Of course it is close to impossible to find a direct or original source for such diseases. Whether contracted in a hospital procedure, tattooing or piercing(almost 0% likeliness in a setting with an autoclave/sterilizer). So if it's truly a public health concern, then why allow anyone at any age to get pierced by a device that cannot be properly cleaned(sterilized)? And at the same time, deny the single use sterile option for anyone at any age. That's not a public health concern. That's a government body telling parents where, on the body, they find a piercing to be acceptable on a minor. I think there should be some limits to the types of piercings and instituting age minimums for certain piercings to minors. As long as it's based on common sense and the input of piercing friendly physicians as well as piercers that have many years of experience piercing minors and also has ties to the leading organization on piercing and piercing health, the A.P.P.(association of professional piercers). That's also a good place to find literature on many different aspects of piercing(safepiercing.org). I say "common sense" because, in my humble opinion, I can not figure out why(especially when implementing rules on piercing) anyone would think it's acceptable to pierce an infant or toddler or small child in any manner. Much less allow someone to use a piercing tool that can not be sterilized! I mean, come on people. Some of these children end up in public school. Talk about public health concern. To ban piercing for minors across the board is not the answer. We as a community can come up with something better, Savannah.