Ten states enacted new legislation in 2021, including laws in Arkansas, South Carolina and Texas that require scrap metal buyers of used converters to maintain records of purchases, including proof of ownership.
In the tiny town of Lawrenceville, Virginia, a van owned by Poplar Mount Baptist Church was knocked out of commission for weeks after thieves cut the catalytic converter out of its exhaust system. Several months later, across town, a catalytic converter was ripped from a van owned by First Baptist Church. Similar crimes followed, targeting…