GENERAL LAWS OF MASSACHUSETTS
Chapter 265: Section 34. Tattooing body of person by other than qualified physician; punishment.
Section 34. Whoever, not being registered as a qualified physician under section two of chapter one hundred and twelve, or corresponding provisions of earlier laws, marks the body of any person by means of tattooing, shall be punished by a fine of not more than three hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.
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Commentary:
This law might have made sense to the people who passed it. To keep people from opening shoddy tattoo parlors, the state decided to make certain that a physician would do the work. But how many physicians are also artists, let alone tattoo artists? There are ways to regulate the tattoo industry, rather than effectively shutting it down. Some ways would include: health inspections, registration of the tattoo artists, for example.