A bill increasing the penalty for tattooing a minor moved one step closer to becoming law Tuesday, when it was unanimously moved out of the House Judiciary Committee into the full House for debate.

Knowingly giving a minor a tattoo without parental permission would carry a maximum $1,000 fine and become a class B misdemeanor if HB227 is passed into law.

"I think you find more tattoos right now than maybe even World War II," sponsoring Rep. David Ure, R-Kamas, said. "It's become an epidemic, and I don't have a problem with that if you're over 18."

Ure said he was walking through his local high school and saw that many of the students had tattoos. He said he wondered whether the parents knew what was taking place.

"There is a real lack of respect for parental permission (in tattoo parlors)," he said.

Judiciary Chairman James Ferrin, R-Orem, noted how the bill would not have a drastic cultural effect but affect an individual greatly.

"Frankly, it's not a big problem if your kid gets a tattoo, but it's a huge problem if mine does," he said to a room filled with laughter.

Because it's only a class C misdemeanor, law enforcement doesn't bother to cite violating tattoo parlors, Ure said.

"I am trying to raise the motivation for the police to go into the parlors," he said.