# Bizarre things that are perfectly legal **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 26, 2011, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-things-that-are-perfectly-legal/597605 "2011-09-26T00:50:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-things-that-are-perfectly-legal/597605/21 "2011-09-26T23:32:49Z")
Here’s a fun one - apparently in most Canadian provinces you can sue your KIDS for support. It is, like most of these a left over clause in a law but [this](http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/09/23/mother-defends-suing-her-children-for-support/) woman is taking advange of it and giving it a shot. The applicable statute is the [Family Relations Act](http://www.bclaws.ca/EPLibraries/bclaws_new/document/ID/freeside/00_96128_01) and the only applicable phrase I could find was: A child is liable to maintain and support a parent having regard to the other responsibilities and liabilities and the reasonable needs of the child. Apparently there are similar laws in every province with the exception of Alberta. I think I need to move before my mother reads this story. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-things-that-are-perfectly-legal/597605/22 "2011-09-26T23:46:44Z")
It is legal for women to walk down the street topless in New York City. ---
**Author:** ![fruitbat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@fruitbat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fruitbat)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2011, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-things-that-are-perfectly-legal/597605/23 "2011-09-27T00:41:27Z")
I remember reading about neighborhood outrage in Washington DC as a Chinese man was stalking pigeons in a local park and netting them for food. As far as I know in most cities there is no law against eating pigeons for consumption at home. I would assume it would be unsettling to watch someone walk around clubbing them in a public park, but I am actually curious as to whether it is legal everywhere, or just in DC? ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2011, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-things-that-are-perfectly-legal/597605/24 "2011-09-27T01:01:33Z")
> [@fruitbat](#): > > I remember reading about neighborhood outrage in Washington DC as a Chinese man was stalking pigeons in a local park and netting them for food. As far as I know in most cities there is no law against eating pigeons for consumption at home. I would assume it would be unsettling to watch someone walk around clubbing them in a public park, but I am actually curious as to whether it is legal everywhere, or just in DC? It’s not against any religion to want to dispose of a pigeon. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2011, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-things-that-are-perfectly-legal/597605/25 "2011-09-27T01:01:47Z")
[Testicle inflation](http://www.google.com/m?q=testicle+inflation&safe=off). Joe ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2011, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-things-that-are-perfectly-legal/597605/26 "2011-09-27T01:56:18Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > I can’t recall where this happened in the US; it’s from a news story I read many years ago. There was a fellow who kept trying to start a business, but a nearby church kept finding excuses to shut him down out of NIMBYism. Finally, he went and dug through the law and found some old statute left over from back when the region was mostly farms and not a town. He discovered that _pig farming_ was legally protected, and set up his very own pig farm. Of course, when he installed the ventilation fans for his new pig raising facility, they just happened to be on the side of his property facing the church. No church involved, but otherwise this exact scenario took place in Stowe, Vermont about twenty-five years ago. It went to the state Supreme Court eventually, and ultimately the “farmer” lost, having to pay assessed actual and punitive damages. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2011, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-things-that-are-perfectly-legal/597605/27 "2011-09-27T02:37:03Z")
> [@Moonlitherial](#): > > Here’s a fun one - apparently in most Canadian provinces you can sue your KIDS for support. It is, like most of these a left over clause in a law but [this](http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/09/23/mother-defends-suing-her-children-for-support/) woman is taking advange of it and giving it a shot. > > The applicable statute is the [Family Relations Act](http://www.bclaws.ca/EPLibraries/bclaws_new/document/ID/freeside/00_96128_01) and the only applicable phrase I could find was: A child is liable to maintain and support a parent having regard to the other responsibilities and liabilities and the reasonable needs of the child. I don’t think this law is bizarre, it’s just a little outdated and out-of-alignment with your personal value system. With the strong welfare state in Canada, aged parents don’t need support from their adult children to save them from destitution, but it still doesn’t mean that parental-abandonment is a good thing, or the age-old unwritten social-contract exchanging support when they are young for support when they are old, shouldn’t be codified. ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2011, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-things-that-are-perfectly-legal/597605/28 "2011-09-27T03:05:14Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > It is legal for women to walk down the street topless in New York City. Public nudity is legal in New Zealand as long as it is not “sexually provocative”. There was a recent high-profile case here about a man who lived in the countryside and liked to go out bicycle riding in the nude. Someone saw him, got upset, and raised a fuss with the police. Eventually they decided that, well, he wasn’t actually hurting anyone, he just liked riding in the nude. So the complaint was dismissed (I started to write “he got off” but fortunately I changed my mind). Sometimes, thankfully, the law is _not_ an ass. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-things-that-are-perfectly-legal/597605/29 "2011-09-28T17:04:32Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > It is legal for women to walk down the street topless in New York City. Anywhere in New York State, in fact. In Vermont, you can wander about completely nude, should you care to. Very popular in [Brattleboro](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brattleboro,_Vermont#Public_nudity). ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-things-that-are-perfectly-legal/597605/30 "2011-09-28T18:15:06Z")
> [@flatlined](#): > > Taco Bell is now charging 10 cents for a cup of water. This is illegal in Arizona. If someone asks for water, we are not allowed to refuse. We are allowed to call 911 to have the fire department deliver the water, but we are not allowed to refuse to do anything… Please tell me you have actually called the fire deparment repeadedly everytime a customer asks for water. I’d love to know the FD reacted; especially the supervisors. > [@Moonlitherial](#): > > Here’s a fun one - apparently in most Canadian provinces you can sue your KIDS for support. It is, like most of these a left over clause in a law but [this](http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/09/23/mother-defends-suing-her-children-for-support/) woman is taking advange of it and giving it a shot… I think about have the states in the US have similiar laws. In some cases it might still be on the booksk from the colonial era. My understanding is that it’s not so much parents sueing their kids as it is nursing homes and governments trying to get reimbursed for the cost of care in case where the elderly person has become a ward of the state. Often there the children in question having good reasons for “abandoning” their parents. > [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > It is legal for women to walk down the street topless in New York City. That’s actually technically legal in alot of places, not just NYS. It’s legal in Ontario (& the rest of Canada\*?) as well. Many states have indecent exposure laws written so narrowly (ie applying soley to genitals & anuses) that a man could get away with wearing a cock sock & clentching his buttocks while all a woman has to do is have a full bush to be in compliance with the law. I wouldn’t want to try that out though. I think California has similiar laws to Vermont; no state-wide ban on nudity unless there’s lewd conduct involved, but local muncipalities can enact their own ordinances. My parents live in the country and one of their neighbors had the habit of going for walks in either a g-string or a jock-strap (I’m not sure which) and she was told there wasn’t anything she could do about. I don’t know if he still does it. \*I’ve heard that the Criminal Code of Canada refers to “being nude in public without lawful excuse”, but defines neither what constitutes “nudity” or a “lawful excuse” leading to a court case where an appeals court ruled shoes count as clothing for legal purposes. Is any of that true? ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2011, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-things-that-are-perfectly-legal/597605/31 "2011-09-28T20:14:11Z")
> [@postcards](#): > > Anywhere in New York State, in fact. But it’s ridiculously rare. And usually, the women who do it all do it as some kind of social experiment or attention grabbing stunt. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2011, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-things-that-are-perfectly-legal/597605/32 "2011-09-29T16:59:37Z")
US gun laws have exceptions for “antique firearms.” As I understand it, the term includes black powder guns, even those made recently. That might make you think of muzzle-loading flintlocks. It also means cap-and-ball six-shooters. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-things-that-are-perfectly-legal/597605/33 "2011-10-01T16:39:51Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Many states have indecent exposure laws written so narrowly (ie applying soley to genitals & anuses) that a man could get away with wearing a cock sock Balls out? ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-things-that-are-perfectly-legal/597605/34 "2011-10-01T16:59:32Z")
Apparently it’s legal for the military to assassinate American citizens so long as they happen to be on non-US soil. I find that bizarre. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-things-that-are-perfectly-legal/597605/35 "2011-10-01T17:05:42Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > Apparently it’s legal for the military to assassinate American citizens so long as they happen to be on non-US soil. I find that bizarre. No more bizarre than the claim that US citizens can take up arms against their country with impunity. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-things-that-are-perfectly-legal/597605/36 "2011-10-01T18:13:45Z")
> [@thirdname](#): > > It’s not against any religion to want to dispose of a pigeon. Are you free Sunday? ---
**Author:** ![ctnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@ctnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctnguy)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-things-that-are-perfectly-legal/597605/37 "2011-10-01T19:17:29Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > 1. According to [http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+1-201](http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+1-201) and [http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+1-202](http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+1-202) , it seems that some dark ages or medieval British law may, in theory, be current law in Virginia. Is there anything “interesting” that one could do with this? This isn’t exactly about “bizarre things that are legal”, but it came to mind when you mentioned this. Certain parts of the [_Corpus Juris Civilis_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpus_Juris_Civilis) - the “Code of Justinian”, from the late-Roman period - still have authority in South African law. (The pre-Napoleonic law of Holland, which was based on a revival of Roman law, was brought to South Africa by Dutch settlers. It has, of course, been in many parts replaced by English law and by subsequent statutes.) I have, in fact, read a judgment of the South African Supreme Court of Appeal which dealt with the question of whether a South African court had jurisdiction to try someone who had been abducted by the police from a neighbouring country without proper extradition proceedings; to answer this question, the court referred to the Justinian Code’s rules about how Roman provincial governors and judges had to deal with accused criminals who had fled to another province. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-things-that-are-perfectly-legal/597605/38 "2011-10-01T20:08:13Z")
> [@](#): > > that a man could get away with wearing a cock sock Round these parts, we call that a ‘banana hammock’!😃 ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-things-that-are-perfectly-legal/597605/39 "2011-10-01T20:36:38Z")
In Ohio, it is illegal to hunt deer with a rifle. But you can hunt rabbit, coyote, and squirrel with any caliber rifle. So in Ohio, it is not illegal to hunt rabbit with a .50 BMG rifle. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-things-that-are-perfectly-legal/597605/40 "2011-10-01T20:39:13Z")
Another one for Ohio: it is not illegal to openly carry a handgun (i.e. loaded handgun in holster on belt) in a bank. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-things-that-are-perfectly-legal/597605.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-things-that-are-perfectly-legal/597605.md?page=3)