That article on Florida cameras was horrifying. ---- Aluminized Pants, 15 ounce Rayon, Kevlar. Thread, Large, 32 inch Inseam Length: http://www.grainger.com/images/products/5t323.jpg http://www.grainger.com/images/products/5t338.jpg http://www.grainger.com/images/products/1e006.jpg You can pull up the main URL and type the '5t323' number in the search box for the full page. ---- http://www.gazette.com/archive/01-06-27/daily/top4.html # # Would-be shoplifters foiled # # Sporting aluminum underwear illegal under new law # By Bill McKeown/The Gazette # # If you're thinking about going to the mall in that snappy # aluminum-lined underwear in the back of your dresser drawer, # think again. # # Beginning Sunday, it will be illegal in Colorado to wear aluminum # underwear. # # OK, there's a caveat. You can wear aluminum briefs and lingerie # as long as it's for personal amusement - but not if it is to # help steal by foiling stores' anti-shoplifting devices. # # The new law, surely the oddest of the dozens coming out of this # season's legislative session, is no laughing matter ... really. # # "This is serious business," said Sen. Stephanie Takis, D-Aurora, # one of the bill's sponsors. "We have laws against using crowbars # as theft devices, but if you were lining your underwear with # aluminum foil, that was not a crime." # # And by golly, said Takis, it should be. She cited several # Denver-area malls that have caught shoplifters with aluminum-lined # shopping bags and even the so-called "iron pants" and could do # nothing to stop it. # # Steve Miller, an attorney with the Legislative Council, helped # draft the bill: "I don't know if it was the highlight of my # career, but I got the assignment." # # Miller said the bill went through several evolutions - "or # devolutions depending on your viewpoint" - before it received # Gov. Bill Owens' approval. # # Essentially, it makes it a misdemeanor to make, wear or know # others are wearing aluminum underwear if they intend to use it # to fool stores' theft-protection devices. Those devices # electronically sense when merchandise leaving the store hasn't # been handled by a cashier, and foil can interfere with that # detection. # # Miller said the new law also gives store employees civil and # criminal immunity if they stop shoppers who crackle when they # walk. ----

Beginning Sunday, shoplifting should become a much riskier business in Colorado. "Don't walk into a store with the idea you can shield and steal," says JoAnn Groff, president of the Colorado Retail Council and an enthusiastic supporter of a new law to crack down on shoplifters.

Under House Bill 1221, anyone walking into a store with a bag or coat lined with aluminum foil -- or any other device aimed at eluding anti-shoplifting devices -- can be charged with a Class 1 misdemeanor carrying carries a penalty of up to 24 months in jail and a $5,000 fine.

"It gives us another very important tool in prosecuting shoplifters," Groff explained. "With this law in effect, we don't have to wait until they take something out of a store." ... But the law that Groff fought for during the past legislative session is one geared to make life more difficult for shoplifters.

Groff won't outline the devices used to trick anti-theft detectors at store doors...