On 22-Oct-2003, Mary Malmros wrote:

A license is a legal
requirement that may or may not exist for a particular sport;

A scuba license has no legal status. It is a feature that is
maintained on a voluntary basis by participants (including
retailers) in the sport. You can dive without a license
if you can find someone who will lend/rent you the kit. No
one can prosecute you.

it's
not some kind of Get Out Of Jail Free card that divine providence
issues you that guarantees you'll never get a smackdown.

No, but in scuba, at least it's a sign that there are folks that
have the guts to say that not everyone is entitled to instant
gratification just because they think something's cool.

If enough idiots put themselves at risk, it'll attract the
attention of the politicians and they'll lean on all of us.
If idiots put _me_ at risk, it interferes with my pursuit of
life, liberty and happiness (as Americans would put it) and
I greatly object to that.

Mike