-----Original Message----- From: Ed Kelly USCG & DHS have announced that if you hold any USCG license (including a Coast Guard 6 pack or any Masters license) you have just 6 months left to get a new piece of plastic or your license will be invalidated.
They are into checking ids now and this is part of the plan for the future to protect our waterways. REPLY Has anyone explained how this actually protects the waterways? We already have driver licence ID but does that stop drunk drivers and drivers with licence suspended from driving around. NO! Given the police presence on the road is 10 to 100 times as frequent as anything you see on the water, how do they expect this to be effective? Any increased presence on the water in the form of patrols will have to be funded from somewhere. The first effect is to discourage voluntary six pack holders from renewing. Secondly those who might have considered getting one even though not required by law ( recreational boas) will no longer bother. That means fewer aducated boaters out there. Not a large number perhaps, but still . . . . . What next? 100% requirment for ID? And what then of someone with no "fixed" address on shore?. Will they now become suspicious characters or persons of dubious origins? Will th edatabase now flag such people for increased attention? With a databases and online access it will be easier for the water cops to track "questionable" persons from area to area. Some authority figures will get off on that aspect and over zealously exercise their right to demand ID. Read your history. Another country in Europe underwent a similar experience. All in the name of national interest as dictated by their federal government. Arild
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