Is Tattooing Legal in the US?

Until 2006, getting or giving a tattoo was illegal in both South Carolina and Oklahoma. Although both states allowed people to get permanent makeup applied, any tattoo given by someone who was not a "licensed practitioner of the healing arts" could land both the artist and recipient in jail. The first legal tattoo inked in South Carolina was done at the Body Art Ink Tattoo Parlor at Myrtle Beach in March 2006, and the first legal tattoo in Oklahoma was inked later that same year.

More about tattoos:

• In 1936, it was estimated that only 6% of Americans had tattoos. That number has more than tripled, and more than 40 million Americans have at least one tattoo. Additionally, about one in four Americans between the ages of 18 and 50 have at least one tattoo.


• The Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology found that about one-sixth of those who do have tattoos have considered getting them removed.


• Statistics show that you have a higher chance of getting HIV or hepatitis from the dentist's office than by getting a tattoo at a licensed tattoo parlor.