Books not hazardous

Writers of new child-safety legislation that sailed through both houses of Democrat-controlled Congress added children's books to the list of "banned hazardous substances," unless they're proved to be lead-free. Let's protect kids, right? Maybe they should have considered this: Kids don't eat books.

The new CPSIA law bans all books printed before 1985 from resale or distribution because they might contain small amounts of lead in the ink. Hundreds of thousands of books have already been destroyed, even though there's not proof that a child could be harmed by them. This law could effectively gut every library and every school in the state, who along with thrift stores are subject to horrendous fines if they sell or distribute pre-1985 copies of books like "Velveteen Rabbit" and "The Little Engine that Could" or "Little Golden Books" that contain lead.

Goodbye library book sales. Goodbye to affordable used books for kids. Maybe congressmen like Jim Matheson — who continues to back the CPSIA — should remember the last time in modern history a government decided to ban books, except those approved by a higher authority.

Matt Bullock

Salt Lake City