Ban Piercing Guns in All 50 States
Ban Piercing Guns in All 50 States
The Issue
There was a line on Wednesday as I started my shift at Claire’s, a young girls' store at the mall that offers ear piercings. Some of the people in line were rocking babies back and forth, I hoped these babies were not in line for piercings.
“Number 8?” yelled my co-worker, Sarah. She barely swabbed down the piercing gun with an alcohol wipe before moving on to the 3-year-old girl. The mother sat in the chair and the girl climbed into her lap. She was visibly nervous and her mother held her tight. The girl was so nervous in fact, Sarah waved me over to do a double. A double is where two people pierce the guest at the same time, one on either side of the head to pierce at the same time. I gloved up, grabbed the gun, lined it up to her ear, and pulled the trigger.
Oh no.
The gun jammed. The earring was pushed halfway into the girl's ear and the trigger wouldn't budge. The girl screamed and I was forced to deal with an injured child, an upset mother holding on to her for dear life and a poorly disinfected piercing gun.
This event wasn’t the first or the last time it's happened.
I have worked for Claire’s for almost 2 full years and in that time I was forced to pierce babies and adults from ages 3 months old to 88 years old. In that short time, I witnessed many horrible things involving the piercing gun used at that franchise. Piercing guns are used in many places, but are most common in malls. With this petition, I hope to put a stop to the use of piercing guns in all locations in all 50 states.
Piercing guns have been around since the 1970s and haven’t changed much since then. The few changes that have happened have made them more dangerous. Piercing guns are now made with plastic instead of metal and have dull earrings instead of needles.
For decades children and babies as young as 3 months old have been pierced dangerously in unsanitary conditions.
Piercing guns run a high risk of infection due to the inability to sanitize them properly. Places that use piercing guns typically use alcohol wipes to disinfect the gun, which doesn’t kill all bacteria that could lead to infection. Even if it was strong enough to kill all bacteria, it wouldn’t be able to reach all points where the earring and gun connect with the piercing site. Alcohol will NOT sterilize anything. It can remove most bacteria, but not all. Guns can spread diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis.
Piercing guns can not be sterilized because they are made of plastic. The plastic would melt in an autoclave, which is what tattoo shops use to sterilize instruments like needles, jewelry, and any tools they might use during the piercing. Many times, the line at Claire's would become so long that I and my coworkers would have to skip steps in the cleaning processes or do a mediocre job of disinfecting to get through the line of impatient customers. Even without the line, many people I've worked with have skipped necessary steps in cleaning.
Piercing guns cause blunt force trauma to the earlobe and cartilage. The needles aren’t sharp enough to give a proper piercing. Piercing needles are hollow and extremely sharp, causing a perfect separation of skin to allow the hole to form. Using a piercing gun is the same as piercing your ear with a stapler. This also causes unnecessary pain and discomfort. Cartilage is known to shatter under this pressure as well, causing permanent damage.
I admit, I can’t speak for all companies who use the piercing gun, but Claire’s for sure does not give enough training for this type of situation. They are trained by video, given a bloodborne pathogens class, and then given a piercing gun. They are “trained” on foam ears and “management supervision”. This “supervision” can’t be implemented correctly because they are usually doing a double piercing (one person on one side of the guest and one on the other side), the manager can’t correct and supervise if they are busy with their side.
The jewelry used for the guns is also very poor quality. They can be bought for cheap online and can cause irritation and allergic reactions in unsuspecting people. And because they are made cheap, the guns are prone to jamming. The jewelry can get stuck in the ear (half into the ear lobe and half out). The guns also lock so, to remove the jam, you must unhook the jewelry from the gun and the ear. This causes unnecessary trauma to the ear. It is emotionally traumatic for adults and small children alike. This has happened personally many times. The day I quit Claire’s both my and my boss’s guns jammed on a 6-year-old girl.
Piercing guns often result in uneven piercings. Professional piercers at tattoo shops have a much higher chance for accuracy since they use tools to keep the area stable and the needle goes straight through their marking instead of having to guess with a giant contraption blocking most of their view.
The way the gun is built, you can’t always line things up perfectly and often have to twist your arm is uncomfortable ways to get it lined up. When piercing cartilage, it's often necessary to twist your arm so far your elbow is over your head.
I've had to re-pierce passed clients who have come in from other Claires or Piercing Pagoda’s where the earring is visibly uneven or even insanely crooked. I've also had guests come into the shop that had their earrings rip out of their ears because the hole was way too low.
This type of instrument is inhumane, unsanitary, dangerous.
Please sign to help me put a stop to this barbaric practice.
Sources and other links:
https://www.homiegfunk.com/gunssuck.htm
https://www.safepiercing.org/safe_piercing_faq.php
https://www.cosmo.ph/beauty/skin/ear-piercing-gun-dangers-a4462-20200119
https://infinitebody.com/blogs/news/claire-s-boutique-and-piercing-guns
https://www.urbanbodyjewelry.com/blog/whats-the-deal-with-piercing-guns
https://www.popsugar.com/family/Piercing-Your-Child-Ears-Gun-43257804
My own experiences working as an ear piercer
136
The Issue
There was a line on Wednesday as I started my shift at Claire’s, a young girls' store at the mall that offers ear piercings. Some of the people in line were rocking babies back and forth, I hoped these babies were not in line for piercings.
“Number 8?” yelled my co-worker, Sarah. She barely swabbed down the piercing gun with an alcohol wipe before moving on to the 3-year-old girl. The mother sat in the chair and the girl climbed into her lap. She was visibly nervous and her mother held her tight. The girl was so nervous in fact, Sarah waved me over to do a double. A double is where two people pierce the guest at the same time, one on either side of the head to pierce at the same time. I gloved up, grabbed the gun, lined it up to her ear, and pulled the trigger.
Oh no.
The gun jammed. The earring was pushed halfway into the girl's ear and the trigger wouldn't budge. The girl screamed and I was forced to deal with an injured child, an upset mother holding on to her for dear life and a poorly disinfected piercing gun.
This event wasn’t the first or the last time it's happened.
I have worked for Claire’s for almost 2 full years and in that time I was forced to pierce babies and adults from ages 3 months old to 88 years old. In that short time, I witnessed many horrible things involving the piercing gun used at that franchise. Piercing guns are used in many places, but are most common in malls. With this petition, I hope to put a stop to the use of piercing guns in all locations in all 50 states.
Piercing guns have been around since the 1970s and haven’t changed much since then. The few changes that have happened have made them more dangerous. Piercing guns are now made with plastic instead of metal and have dull earrings instead of needles.
For decades children and babies as young as 3 months old have been pierced dangerously in unsanitary conditions.
Piercing guns run a high risk of infection due to the inability to sanitize them properly. Places that use piercing guns typically use alcohol wipes to disinfect the gun, which doesn’t kill all bacteria that could lead to infection. Even if it was strong enough to kill all bacteria, it wouldn’t be able to reach all points where the earring and gun connect with the piercing site. Alcohol will NOT sterilize anything. It can remove most bacteria, but not all. Guns can spread diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis.
Piercing guns can not be sterilized because they are made of plastic. The plastic would melt in an autoclave, which is what tattoo shops use to sterilize instruments like needles, jewelry, and any tools they might use during the piercing. Many times, the line at Claire's would become so long that I and my coworkers would have to skip steps in the cleaning processes or do a mediocre job of disinfecting to get through the line of impatient customers. Even without the line, many people I've worked with have skipped necessary steps in cleaning.
Piercing guns cause blunt force trauma to the earlobe and cartilage. The needles aren’t sharp enough to give a proper piercing. Piercing needles are hollow and extremely sharp, causing a perfect separation of skin to allow the hole to form. Using a piercing gun is the same as piercing your ear with a stapler. This also causes unnecessary pain and discomfort. Cartilage is known to shatter under this pressure as well, causing permanent damage.
I admit, I can’t speak for all companies who use the piercing gun, but Claire’s for sure does not give enough training for this type of situation. They are trained by video, given a bloodborne pathogens class, and then given a piercing gun. They are “trained” on foam ears and “management supervision”. This “supervision” can’t be implemented correctly because they are usually doing a double piercing (one person on one side of the guest and one on the other side), the manager can’t correct and supervise if they are busy with their side.
The jewelry used for the guns is also very poor quality. They can be bought for cheap online and can cause irritation and allergic reactions in unsuspecting people. And because they are made cheap, the guns are prone to jamming. The jewelry can get stuck in the ear (half into the ear lobe and half out). The guns also lock so, to remove the jam, you must unhook the jewelry from the gun and the ear. This causes unnecessary trauma to the ear. It is emotionally traumatic for adults and small children alike. This has happened personally many times. The day I quit Claire’s both my and my boss’s guns jammed on a 6-year-old girl.
Piercing guns often result in uneven piercings. Professional piercers at tattoo shops have a much higher chance for accuracy since they use tools to keep the area stable and the needle goes straight through their marking instead of having to guess with a giant contraption blocking most of their view.
The way the gun is built, you can’t always line things up perfectly and often have to twist your arm is uncomfortable ways to get it lined up. When piercing cartilage, it's often necessary to twist your arm so far your elbow is over your head.
I've had to re-pierce passed clients who have come in from other Claires or Piercing Pagoda’s where the earring is visibly uneven or even insanely crooked. I've also had guests come into the shop that had their earrings rip out of their ears because the hole was way too low.
This type of instrument is inhumane, unsanitary, dangerous.
Please sign to help me put a stop to this barbaric practice.
Sources and other links:
https://www.homiegfunk.com/gunssuck.htm
https://www.safepiercing.org/safe_piercing_faq.php
https://www.cosmo.ph/beauty/skin/ear-piercing-gun-dangers-a4462-20200119
https://infinitebody.com/blogs/news/claire-s-boutique-and-piercing-guns
https://www.urbanbodyjewelry.com/blog/whats-the-deal-with-piercing-guns
https://www.popsugar.com/family/Piercing-Your-Child-Ears-Gun-43257804
My own experiences working as an ear piercer
136
The Decision Makers
Supporter Voices
Petition created on August 18, 2020