Proposed laws aim to fight copper theft

During a visit to the Greene County Sheriff’s Department, 1010 Boonville Ave., Blunt urged Missouri lawmakers to pass Senate bills 1034 and 802, which would:

• Modify record-keeping requirements for scrap-metal dealers. Dealers would be required to keep logs of most copper, brass, bronze or aluminum transactions over $50 and save the records for two years;

• Allow only those authorized to sell items commonly targeted for metal theft;

• Require payments over $500 be made by check or another method that would leave a paper trail; and

• Make metal theft a class C felony.

“Missouri, as well as the rest of our country, is in the midst of a copper theft spree,” Blunt said in a news release. “I urge lawmakers to send to my desk tough laws to give law enforcement some of the strongest tools in the country against metal thieves and provide prosecutors with the hard evidence they need to put these copper and metal thieves behind iron prison bars.”

Prices of copper and other metals are about five times what they were four years ago, which drives up theft, according to the release. Thieves are stripping copper wiring, pipes and tubing from utilities, homes and construction sites, and they’re stealing items such as manholes, traffic signal boxes, beer kegs, gas grills and aluminum bleacher seats and selling them for scrap, the release said.