Editor:

If Jim Matheson wants to keep kids off of ATVs he better come up with better reasons. Not, for example, banning the sale of youth ATVs because they contain lead, as the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act does.

We all want to keep kids safe, but according to this logic we should ban kids from having guns because bullets might be harmful if swallowed. The problem with the CPSIA is that there is no connection between risk and regulation. Sen. Bob Bennett and Rep. Rob Bishop recognize this, and would love to exempt products like ATVs, books and clothing for kids through an amendment. The CPSC, who has been charged with enforcing the law, has literally begged Congress to change the law to allow them some ability to make reasonable exclusions and base enforcement on risk.

Why is Matheson still backing this bad law?

Brady Leavitt,
Salt Lake City