We were thrilled to learn last week that the S.C. General Assembly's one-man torch squad against tattooing-legalization measures, Sen. Jake Knotts, R-West Columbia, has undergone an epiphany. All it took was a tour of an illegal tattooing parlor at an undisclosed location.

Reporting afterward that this place was a "nasty, nasty house," Knotts proclaimed himself persuaded that police and courts can't stop illegal tattooing. He's ready to consider legalization under strict state health and local zoning rules.

Knotts' conversion doesn't guarantee the 2004 General Assembly will legalize tattooing, but it makes such an outcome more likely.