Post #388204 by kahalakruzer on Thu, Jun 19, 2008 4:02 PM

Illegal? Well shit howdy,I didn't know it was illegal when I killed this turtle down at Doheny last weekend! Yee haw!

Seriously though, I know that it is illegal to own turtle shells that were killed recently, but what I gathered from asking people in the know, is that the ban on turtle shells went into effect in 1973(?) and anything older is grandfathered into the antique/historical/scientific category. I'm assuming these shells fall into the ivory-type category of collectibles, where they just have to be proven to be imported prior to a certain year. I think if it was a huge problem, then Oceanic Arts wouldn't have multiple shells on display, and my little brother's oceanography teacher wouldn't have 2 shells on his wall in public school. The man I bought the shell from was older, and he had owned the shell for years. He thought they were illegal now, but wasn't sure, which kind of shows how long ago he must've bought this one. I guess when I post my address on the internet and leave a key in my door, I'll have to start worrying about these environmental nazis that have nothing better to do then to save the already-dead animals. But if anyone knows the actual laws on this kind of thing, it'd be good to know for future collectors that may have the opportunity to own one of these. Thanks though, for the heads up, to anyone who was worried I was going to get taken out by the green police.