Where Do You Buy Your Wood?

Well, of all things, you won't believe who's got a big grudge against regulations. Gibson Guitars.
For those of you who are sitting there wondering, Gibson is a world famous manufacturer of fine musical instruments. Their guitars are owned by a good many music world enthusiasts. And antique Gibson Guitars are quite valuable. So what's the problem. Well, most of their guitars have very high quality, and in many cases rare wood in them. The problem comes in when woods that are not just rare, but protected and in danger of becoming extinct in their home countries, like Madagascar. So to help these countries and help our own Forest Products industry, the government began to regulate the purchase and sale of these woods. The regulations actually do help our Forest Products industry according to industry executives. Other guitar manufacturers stopped buying from those countries. Well, Gibson got caught with some of these illegal woods. Now they're crying to the Republican and Tea Parties, a big lobbying firm and at least one Democratic congressman. They want the wood back and they want to be allowed to buy, I guess as long as the seller claims it's not illegal. How does that work? If I steal somebody's watch and offer to sell it to you, how likely is it that I'll tell you I stole it? Do the Gibson folks actually think the folks they buy the wood from are going to tell them if they harvested it illegally? Boy would I love to have them as clients. There's this bridge I just acquired and have decided to sell to you at a very nominal price. The bridge connects San Francisco with the another area of California. It has a pretty good income and is known as the San Fransisco Bay Bridge. Oh and I assure you I came by it perfectly legally. My name is John Doe. Cash only please.