At the Blue Quill Angler, we pride ourselves on being a small, customer-focused fly fishing shop in Colorado. For years, we’ve been dedicated to providing high-quality gear and service to anglers across the country. Unfortunately, we’ve had to make a difficult decision: we can no longer ship items to California. This decision comes after facing legal threats under California’s Proposition 65 (Prop 65) – threats that are both unfair and detrimental to small businesses like ours.
What is Prop 65?
California’s Prop 65, formally known as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, was originally passed with good intentions. It requires businesses to provide warnings on products that contain chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm. While we fully support transparency when it comes to product safety, Prop 65 has become a tool for abuse by so-called "citizen enforcers" and the lawyers who work with them.
Our Experience with Prop 65
Recently, we were served with a 60-day notice of violation for not having the appropriate Prop 65 warnings on our website. As a responsible business, we took immediate action to resolve the issue, adding the required warnings and ensuring we were fully compliant. But the threats didn’t stop there. Despite our quick resolution, we continued to face harassment from "citizen enforcers" and their attorneys, expecting a large financial settlement to avoid a lawsuit. This tactic, unfortunately, is all too common. These citizen enforcers – working with their attorneys – target businesses with the goal of extorting settlements. They know that going to court is a costly and time-consuming endeavor, one that can financially cripple small businesses like ours.
The Reality of Prop 65 Lawsuits
Through October 18, 2023, there were 797 Prop 65 settlements totaling more than $18.9 million. Out of that, an astounding 88% – or $16.68 million – went towards attorneys’ fees and costs. It’s a sad reality that this law, originally designed to protect the public, has turned into a cash cow for lawyers and citizen enforcers.Who is benefiting here? Certainly not the people of California. The overwhelming majority of settlement funds go into the pockets of attorneys, not towards improving public health or safety. This system is ripe for abuse, and it’s small businesses like ours that suffer the most.
Why We Can No Longer Ship to California
Faced with ongoing legal threats, we had to make a difficult choice. Continuing to ship products to California could expose us to further legal action, which would be financially devastating. Rather than continuing to fight these baseless claims, we’ve decided that the best course of action is to stop shipping to California altogether.It’s frustrating, especially because we resolved the issue immediately after being notified. But the ongoing harassment and the real threat of more legal action make it impossible for us to continue serving customers in California without putting our business at serious risk.
A Call to Action
The saddest part of this situation is that it’s not really helping the people of California. Unless you happen to be a Prop 65 attorney or one of the citizen enforcers, this law is doing more harm than good. Small businesses across the country are being targeted, and many are forced to pay settlements or cease operations in California altogether – as we have.We encourage all Californians to take a closer look at Prop 65 and how it’s being used. Is this really helping consumers, or is it just lining the pockets of opportunistic attorneys? We hope that the people of California will reach out to their government representatives and push for reform. It’s time to stop the madness and restore fairness for small businesses.
At the Blue Quill Angler, we remain committed to serving our customers with integrity and passion. We hope that one day we can resume shipping to California, but for now, we have no choice but to protect ourselves from a system that unfairly targets small businesses like ours.