That’s the buzz of a tattoo needle making its permanent imprint. The U.S. Army is mulling over new rules that would restrict such work below the elbows and knees. Many people have a problem with those new restrictions, including Joey Knuckles.
“If you’re willing to die for me, I’m more than willing to tattoo you man," he said.
Knuckles has been a tattoo artist for 10 years, but he’s been around the business for much longer than that. He grew up watching other artists at work, honing their craft, specializing in the classic American-folk designs.
Now, Knuckles has his own shop, High Street Tattoo, in the heart of a popular Columbus neighborhood.
Knuckles says members of the military were among the first to make tattoos popular in the U.S. and played a major role in developing the culture… especially the Asian-influenced designs.
"You know, these guys would travel over there and either get tattooed over there, or they would see people with other tattoos, or see tattoo imagery or like the beautiful dragons and stuff like that and come back," he said. "And those with artistic skill would reinterpret those designs and draw them themselves.”
The new rules would grandfather in any current soldiers who already have tattoos below the knees and elbows. The Wall Street Journal reports some service members around the country are heading to tattoo shops to get one last piece of work done before the rules are finalized.
While that may ramp up business for shops like High Street Tattoo, Knuckles says it’s not worth the long-term consequences.
“Me looking at it like, ‘There’s business coming in, because guys are getting tattooed more right now because they’re not going to be able to get tattooed much,’ is very short-sighted," he said. "I look at it more as it’s almost damaging a culture of proud tattooed soldiers.”
The new rule is under final review. If approved, the restrictions would go into effect about 60 days later.
