Locksmith Legislative Input Opportunity

An Open Letter to Anyone in the Locksmith Industry

Wesley Hottot, an attorney with the Institute for Justice, sent an email a while ago requesting I participate in shaping future legislation as pertain to the locksmith industry.  He suggested sending recommended changes in policies which regulate locksmith licensing in the State of Texas to The Texas Red Tape Challenge, a project arm of House Government Efficiency & Reform Committee, which will accept suggestions from all members of the locksmith industry until July 31, 012. 

There are no provisions which exempt journeymen locksmiths from having to take mandatory continuing education classes.  The Texas Private Security Board has taken the stance that a beginner locksmith is no different than a journeyman locksmith whose been applying his/her skills for an entire career and requires everyone to take the same continuing education courses. 

My first recommendation would be to eliminate mandatory continuing education requirement for any locksmith who has 20 years or more in the business.  Such a change in regulations would not bar veteran locksmiths from obtaining additional skills or education should they have an interest; instead it gives them credit for having acquired the necessary skills, by virtue of longevity in the area of locksmith work, to continue applying those very same skills without having to spend time and money taking a course he/she could probably teach.

Presently locksmith licenses must be renewed every two years; locksmith licenses should have a six year duration, similar to a driver’s license and be issued on something more durable than a piece of scratch pad paper as is now done.  Simplify the bureaucratic red tape and let folks get on with the business of doing business.

Locksmith licenses cost roughly $500; nothing less than a tax on an individual’s ability to earn money in his/her chosen field.  This tax/fee goes far beyond covering any secretarial costs to manage the issuance of the license.  There is no reason why a locksmith license should cost any more than a driver’s license, somewhere between $50 -$60 dollars.  The elevated expense serves only to limit individuals entering the locksmith industry as competition to existing locksmiths as well as preventing individuals who wish to participate in a part time enterprise.  It is not the purpose of government to restrict qualified locksmiths from entering the work place.

Thank you for enlisting input from individuals who have invested their lives in the locksmith industry.  Rules and regulations which govern our ability to earn a living may more properly be addressed by our combined efforts.

T.F. Stern

Texas Locksmith License B12254

This article has been cross posted to The Moral Liberal, a publication whose banner reads, “Defending The Judeo-Christian Ethic, Limited Government, & The American Constitution”.