Posted by Kendall Raine on December 01, 2000 at 13:54:48:
In Reply to: if that is the case + posted by mike on December 01, 2000 at 12:24:15:
No way legislation unless some politician kills himself on a vacation to the Caymans. This debate came up years ago in the technical community over whether we should present the government with a set of standards designed to show the Feds we were capable of governing ourselves. It was a solution looking for a problem. It went nowhere and no politician got any mileage out of it. 20/20 also did a critical piece on PADI some years back-nothing.
Seriously, look at the fight to ban assault weapons because of perceived threats to Constitutional freedoms. If sports like rock climbing, sky diving, spelunking and others are all self-governed, what politician is going to spend the time to push the agenda? Put another way, how is Diane going to get one more vote by restricting the freedom of divers? DEMA would hate her, the agencies would hate her, retailers would hate her and divers would hate her Sheesh!