Most Ridiculous Laws Still on the Books Around the Country

Probably not a good idea to sleep inside the refrigerator either, even if you prop the door open.

Bingo games, a staple for raising funds for houses of worship, are limited to five hours in the state, according to North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement. Bingo games at the state fair are an exception.

The law in Idaho also stipulates that bikes are banned from park benches and gazebos.

Like other laws on the list, this one sounds silly. But in an era when horses were the main source of transportation, umbrellas were one of the objects that could spook them.

Like so many laws on this list, this would be a tough one to enforce – and it will surely be challenged by women’s rights groups and other activists, if it hasn’t been already.

This law comes under the heading of obsolete laws that need to be scrapped – though in divorce proceedings, both parties may well accuse the other of being an idiot or a lunatic. Or both.

You’d probably want something to eat with your suds anyway, right?.

Forget about stepping on a crack and breaking your mother’s back. Doing it along a state highway is actually a felony in the Beehive State.

If you’re considering earning a little cash by selling your eyes or any other organ in the Lone Star State, the eyes of Texas are upon you. The offense can get you a year in jail and/or fines of up to $4,000.

Alaska has several laws covering humans’ relationship with moose. This law stipulates that it is illegal to push a live moose out of a plane. It doesn’t say you can’t offload a dead one.

This law has a historical reference: After the United States annexed Hawaii at the end of the 19th century, the native population was ordered to destroy Hawaiian coins. People took to secreting them behind their ears to circumvent the ban.

Legal experts believe this law may have been passed to protect fish and other aquatic species against the dangers of fermented agricultural runoff.

The standard for bouncing pickles was tested in 1948. A pair of pickle packers (say that three times fast) were arrested for selling pickles “unfit for human consumption.” Connecticut Food and Drug Commissioner Frederick Holcomb determined that a good pickle dropped from a foot should bounce. Those pickles did not, and the pickle purveyors were fined.

Women can’t cut their own hair without their husband’s permission. This certainly sounds outdated and it might be a difficult law to enforce.

In the Granite State, bars and restaurants are places where you eat and drink, not groove to the beat.

Makes sense – but we’d love to watch somebody trying to parallel-park an elephant.

This law might come under the heading of what could be more obvious.

This law was enacted in 1924. A donkey had fallen asleep in an abandoned bathtub and after a dam burst near Kingman, the flood waters carried the mule downstream. The townspeople saved the animal and then got a law passed to prevent the animals from slumbering in tubs ever again.

Actually, it’s illegal to sleep in any area where food is prepared or provided in large quantities.

No, not even to get to the other side. The law also applies to ducks, geese, “or any other domestic fowl” – none of which are permitted “to run at large upon the streets or alleys of the city.”

This law in Oregon also applies to sundaes. A spot check of Baskin-Robbins outlets in the Beaver State, however, suggests that the law is rarely enforced: All are open seven days a week.

The law is part of a broader measure to combat Sunday gambling in Alabama out of respect for those attending services at houses of worship.

New Mexico law allows the vote to United States citizens over 21 years old who have resided in New Mexico for 12 months and in their county for 90 days and currently live in the precinct where they plan to vote – the exceptions being “idiots, insane persons, and persons convicted of a felonious or infamous crime.”

This law might just have its origins in proper hygiene.

Makes one wonder how this law would be enforced.

In Arcadia, peacocks have the right of way on any street or intersection. The birds were brought to Arcadia 100 years ago to enliven the community.

The penalty for doing this is at least $100 and not more than $500.

We’ve heard of shooting fish in a barrel, but the idea of throwing a lariat around one is mind-bending.

This law might well have become law for safety reasons, though why it applies in only one town is unclear.

This law sounds absurd today, but as Nevada was being settled in the 1800s, imported camels were used to transport goods across the vast desert. Apparently camel traffic became a problem and restrictions were enacted.

When you stop to think about it, you’d have to be quite a sharpshooter to accomplish that feat anyway.

We’d like to see officials trying to enforce this law during spring break.

While we doubt that law enforcement is checking up on such events, it’s probably best to eat beforehand.

From the state where it’s also against the law to delay a homing pigeon or frown at a cop (or, for that matter, to pump your own gas), of course it would be illegal for a man to knit during fishing season. The law doesn’t prevent women from doing so, however.

A ban against cursing in front of the departed sounds like a measure passed to respect the dead and his or her grieving friends and family.

Chicago has plenty of parks conducive to kite-flying, but city laws prevent you from doing so.

This law was passed in the 1950s and applied to those 16 or older to help combat Ku Klux Klan activity.

This law was enacted in 1910 and states that “every person guilty of secretly loitering about any building, with intent to overhear discourse therein, and to repeat or publish the same to vex, annoy, or injure others, is guilty of a misdemeanor.”

The folks in Kingman, Arizona (see above) would doubtless concur with this law.

It’s illegal to take a lion to the movies in Baltimore. Yes, it is.

They crack down on trick-or-treaters in Chesapeake, Virginia. It’s illegal for those over 12 years old to seek candy and treats on Halloween (and no matter how old you are, you can’t do so after 8 p.m.) Doing so is a misdemeanor that includes a fine of up to $100 and/or up to six months in jail.

You find flamingos in more warm-temperature climes like Florida, South America, and Africa, not in the 49th State. Yet there is a law on the books up north that bans the bird’s owners from bringing their pet birds into a barbershop – just in case.

The only exceptions to this law are for zoological parks and research institutions. A violation of this law is a misdemeanor, and one that might cause a stink.

This law is on the books as a way to keep odorous slippers from attracting rats. New York City police officers might have more important matters to address.

There is apparently no law, however, against men driving in robes or polyester jumpsuits.

The Show Me State wants single men between the ages of 21 and 50 to show the state the money. Those men must pay a yearly tax of $1, presumably just for being single men. The law was enacted in 1821, the year Missouri became a state. A dollar then was equivalent to about $23 today.

Rat-lovers protest that this law is manifestly unfair, especially since it doesn’t apply to mice, gerbils, hamsters, or guinea pigs.