Weird laws: Reasonable or just straight up crazy?

Weird laws: Reasonable or just straight up crazy?

Amya Parker, Staff Writer

Laws are designed to maintain order and keep citizens safe. However, each state has at least one crazy law that many people think is just plain ridiculous and unnecessary.  Which of these laws is the wackiest to you?

Alabama: You can’t wear a fake mustache that causes laughter in church.

Alaska:  If you see a sleeping bear, it’s illegal to wake it up for a photo op.

Arizona: Donkeys cannot sleep in bathtubs.

Arkansas: Honking one’s car horn at a sandwich shop after 9pm is against the law.

California: It shall be unlawful for any person to keep, store, or have in his or her possession any green hide or any hide giving off an offensive odor.

Colorado: Car dealers may not show cars on a Sunday.

Connecticut: No person who is not a member of the Police Department of the City shall have in his possession or blow upon a whistle.

Delaware: No person shall disrupt or disturb any congregation or assembly met for religious worship by noise, talking or whispering, or by rude or indecent behavior, or by profane language within their place of worship, or within 300 feet of the place of worship.

Florida:  It’s illegal for hot dog vendors to dress provocatively.

Georgia: You cannot live on a boat for more than 30 days during the calendar year.

Hawaii: Riding in the backseat of a car without a seat belt will get you fined, but riding unfastened in the bed of a pickup truck is completely legal.  

Idaho: It’s illegal to sweep to dirt out of your house.

Illinois: No fancy bike riding. 

Indiana: It’s only legal to throw a rock at a bird if it’s in self defense.

Iowa: No fake butter allowed! Any person who attempts to pass off margarine, oleo, or oleomargarine as real butter is guilty of a simple misdemeanor, punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a $625 fine.  

Kansas: No one may catch fish with his bare hands.

Kentucky: It’s illegal to dye a duckling blue and sell it (unless you sell at least six of them.)

Louisiana: It is illegal to steal a alligator. The penalty is up to 10 years of jail time!

Maine: It’s illegal to advertise on tombstones.

Maryland: It is illegal to curse while driving on the highway.

Massachusetts: It is illegal to dance to the national anthem.

Michigan: It’s illegal to kill a dog using a decompression chamber. 

Minnesota: In Minnesota it is illegal to grease a pig.

Mississippi: Horses are not to be housed within fifty feet of any road.

Missouri: Yard sales are forbidden.

Montana: Frisbee golf can not be played at night.

Nebraska: Whale fishing is illegal.

Nevada: A man can’t buy drinks for more than three people at a time.

New Hampshire: It is illegal to show a movie before 2:00 pm. 

New Jersey: Handcuffs may not be sold to minors.

New Mexico: Humans may not spit on the steps of an opera house.

New York: It is illegal to congregate in public with two people or more while wearing a mask. 

North Carolina: It’s illegal to borrow your neighbor’s dog.

North Dakota: No late-night fireworks.

Ohio: It is illegal to sell colored chicken.

Oklahoma: No bear wrestling!

Oregon: No testing one’s physical endurance while driving.

Pennsylvania: Bingo is only for non-felons.

Rhode Island: It is illegal to impersonate an auctioneer.

South Carolina: It is illegal to work on Sundays.

South Dakota: Fireworks must be approved to help with farming.

Tennessee: One must have a permit to panhandle.

Texas: It is illegal to sell one’s eye.

Utah: No missiles  are permitted in bus terminals.

Vermont: No clotheslines!

Virginia: No skunks as pets!

Washington: No Sasquatch poaching!

West Virginia:  No drones may be used to hunt birds. 

Wisconsin: All butter must be delicious.

Wyoming: It is illegal to purchase anything from someone who is drunk.

 

Well there you have it–weird laws. Some of them might be useful and have a purpose, but many might just give you a laugh and leave you wondering, “But why?”