| Cowboy Country Traveler Newsie Thangs
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Scrap Metal Thieves, Beware.
The walls of your home contain a material that is increasing in value
so much that thieves are becoming bolder as they steal it.
But the Missouri Senate has endorsed a new way to catch them.
Thieves are stealing copper and aluminum, destroying property and creating
dangerous situations.
As Senator Wes Shoemeyer puts it--the old joke about one man's junk is
another man's treasure has changed: "There ain't no junk no more.
It's all treasure."
The senate has advanced Senator Rob Mayer's bill requiring scrap dealers
and recyclers to keep detailed records of the people who sell copper and
aluminum scrap metal--and miscellaneous other items, including manhole
covers.
He says prices have risen so high because countries like China, India,
Malaysia and other countries need increasing amounts of those materials,
making the theft of those materials more attractive.
He says thieves are stealing electrical wiring, plumbing, and even gas
pipes from homes, wires from railroad switches and crossing gates---
you name it, he infers, they'll steal it and sell it to scrap yards.
The senate has advanced his record-keeping bill that he says will give
police more leads to thieves. The bill will go to the House with one
more favorable vote.