About two and a half years ago, a man came to Jack Canfield with a problem.

His fraternity brothers had branded him - he presumably consented - with a heated wire, but had done a poor job. Canfield, a body piercer and manager at The Ink Spot in Casper, did some research and agreed to improve the look of the scar.

"It's a (painful) burn and they take a lot longer to heal, six to eight months to a year," said Canfield.

It was the only branding - a kind of scarification - Canfield has ever done at The Ink Spot and it may be the only one he will do in Natrona County.

The City of Casper-Natrona County Health Department has proposed rules that will outlaw invasive procedures like branding, implanting objects under the skin and skin braiding, which involves cutting strips of skin and braiding them together.

Other regulations include an annual license fee of $50, a requirement that tattoo procedures be done with disposable needles and recertification of Blood Borne Pathogen training once every two years.

John Drinnon, the environmental health director at the Health Department, said when he learned of some of the more extreme body art procedures, he thought it would be better to regulate them before people start asking for things tattoo artists are not qualified to do.

He said the five tattoo parlors in Natrona County "were overwhelmingly in favor" of the new regulations, which add to the already considerable tattoo rules.

Canfield said he supports anything that will improve tattoo and piercing safety.

"They came to us with, 'What do you think of having rules and regulations?'" he said. "I think it's a terrific idea. We're into art."

He said The Ink Spot, owned by his sister Cyndy Canfield, already follows the new rules.

There is almost no demand for branding, Canfield said. For a brand to take, a person has to either leave the scab alone or irritate it and scour it to increase scarring.

Bob Benson, a tattoo artist at A-1 Tattoos/ You Bet it Hurts Body Art, said his branding technique is to make a metal mold of a design, heat it and then apply it to the skin. This is sometimes called "strike" branding. He said he won't mind not doing the procedure anymore and it will not result in a big revenue loss.

"I'm just your basic old-school tattoo artist," he said.

Skin braiding, according to one scarification Web site, is an urban legend and the premise is faulty anyway.

About implantation, Canfield said, "I'm not a doctor," and indicated he would not do them. Benson agreed that a sterile environment, more like an emergency room, is better suited.

Both men expressed a slight distaste for regulation.

"If they do make it illegal, it'll drive it underground," Benson said.

Drinnon said this is a legitimate complaint, but added that tattoo artists aren't a whole lot more qualified than laymen to do implantations.

On a more philosophical note, Canfield said, "Do I think people's bodies are their own and they should be able to do what they do? Yes."

The proposed changes, however, are not yet rules. There is a mandatory 45-day public comment period that will be followed by a public hearing on Aug. 11.