Catalytic converter theft - question

I know cat thefts are rampant. The more I read about them, the more I wonder - could the process effectively be snuffed out by making it illegal to buy a used converter? Is it more complex than that? 

Meanwhile, this video is pretty funny. Two converter thieves run off by paintball gun fire. :D

https://www.motorious.com/articles/news/catalytic-converter-thieves-paintballs/

A number of states have already added more regulations to deter cat theft, but as long as there are unscrupulous recyclers willing to pay for them without asking questions, more laws is unlikely to help much.

Shady scrappers will buy regardless. How often do new regulations actually effectively stop crimes instead of making more non-criminals become evil doers in the eyes of the law?

Didn't that work with stolen airbags?

Criminals don't care about laws. Strange, I know. Giving those in power more power to berkeley with the common man has never worked out well, and rarely if ever actually stopped what was initially trying to be stopped.

Cage your converters, if you're worried about it, until they come with mandated, permanent batteried inseparable trackers for them at great cost to the purchaser, it will continue to happen.

Best you can do is try to protect yours. Don't park in sketchy areas, put on a cage or shield, replace with a junk aftermarket AND LABEL IT AS SUCH. It's a crime of opportunity, make it harder than rolling under the car with a sawzall and you'll likely be spared. 

The problem is, then what do you do with the millions of used converters that are removed for legitimate reasons? We sure don't want to start landfilling precious metals. That's a big step backwards.

dculberson said:

The problem is, then what do you do with the millions of used converters that are removed for legitimate reasons? We sure don't want to start landfilling precious metals. That's a big step backwards.

I would say make the scrap buyer's keep track of who is selling them the converters. Guys like us might come up with one or two a year because building a racecar or whatever, but if a person is selling a bunch and they dont own a muffler shop then the police know who they need to keep an eye on.

From what the posts above are saying, maybe we should just legalize stealing converters. I mean if more regulation is worse wouldn't that mean less regulation is better? 

Plus if you dont have a cage on your cat and your vehicle sits high enough to slide under you were basically asking for it, am I right?

dyintorace said:

I know cat thefts are rampant. The more I read about them, the more I wonder - could the process effectively be snuffed out by making it illegal to buy a used converter? Is it more complex than that? 

Meanwhile, this video is pretty funny. Two converter thieves run off by paintball gun fire. :D

https://www.motorious.com/articles/news/catalytic-converter-thieves-paintballs/

It is already illegal to sell a used converter.

gearheadmb said:

dculberson said:

The problem is, then what do you do with the millions of used converters that are removed for legitimate reasons? We sure don't want to start landfilling precious metals. That's a big step backwards.

I would say make the scrap buyer's keep track of who is selling them the converters. Guys like us might come up with one or two a year because building a racecar or whatever, but if a person is selling a bunch and they dont own a muffler shop then the police know who they need to keep an eye on.

They already must by law keep track of converters.  When we replace one, the old converter gets paperwork attached before it gets recycled, and they won't accept the converter without said paperwork.

In reply to gearheadmb :

From what the posts above are saying, maybe we should just legalize stealing converters. I mean if more regulation is worse wouldn't that mean less regulation is better? 

Plus if you dont have a cage on your cat and your vehicle sits high enough to slide under you were basically asking for it, am I right?

No, we should punish the criminals to the extent that crime is deterred or to the point that those that commit the crimes are locked up and unable to continue committing crimes. Since we seem to be largely unwilling to do that, the unfortunate yet pragmatic approach is to take extra steps to protect your own property. 

gearheadmb said:

From what the posts above are saying, maybe we should just legalize stealing converters. I mean if more regulation is worse wouldn't that mean less regulation is better? 

Plus if you dont have a cage on your cat and your vehicle sits high enough to slide under you were basically asking for it, am I right?

This is just provocative nonsense.  I think the point that some are trying to make is that you can pass all the regulations you want, but without enforcement, it all amounts to nothing.

That is how they do it in California, without enforcement.

We're going to press pause on this one.