# Can an inanimate object be illegal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 12, 2007, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-inanimate-object-be-illegal/387768 "2007-01-12T23:05:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-inanimate-object-be-illegal/387768/21 "2007-01-13T04:16:04Z")
How about a proper noun. Is that inanimate? If you say yes, then in Germany, it is illegal to name a child Adolph Hitler. Cite? I give you Peter Peter the Meter Reader at… [http://www.8bitjoystick.com/archives/jake\_moon\_unit\_zappa.php](http://www.8bitjoystick.com/archives/jake_moon_unit_zappa.php) 😃😃😃 I think it is true, even though it’s funny. Germany has some weird naming rules. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-inanimate-object-be-illegal/387768/22 "2007-01-13T04:22:35Z")
I can see the argument that naturally occurring items like marijuana can exist in a non-illegal status and the ownership of items like firearms might be legal or illegal depending on the circumstances. But what about a manufactured item whose possession is generally illegal - wouldn’t such an item always be illegal in every circumstance of its existence? Consider a vial of crack cocaine - under what circumstances would it not be illegal? ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-inanimate-object-be-illegal/387768/23 "2007-01-13T04:29:05Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo] I can see the argument that naturally occurring items like marijuana can exist in a non-illegal status and the ownership of items like firearms might be legal or illegal depending on the circumstances. But what about a manufactured item whose possession is generally illegal - wouldn’t such an item always be illegal in every circumstance of its existence? Consider a vial of crack cocaine - under what circumstances would it not be illegal? [/QUOTE] In a medical research lab specifically and legitimately studying the effects of crack cocaine? ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-inanimate-object-be-illegal/387768/24 "2007-01-13T05:07:11Z")
> [@](#): > > There is no possible way for any person, agency, or dealer to legally possess an NFA Weapon that is not ON the Registry. So a governmental law enforcement agency that has seized such a weapon and is holding it for evidence or in the process of destroying it is possessing it illegally? ---
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-inanimate-object-be-illegal/387768/25 "2007-01-13T06:52:33Z")
[QUOTE=Bear\_Nenno] There are firearms on the streets that are illegal no matter what. There is no possible way for any person, agency, or dealer to legally possess an NFA Weapon that is not _ON_ the Registry. [/QUOTE] Wrong. What about the M16, and other fun toys, that I possessed while in the military? I once had a teacher whose résumé include working as a researcher on a federal marijuana farm. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-inanimate-object-be-illegal/387768/26 "2007-01-13T07:44:14Z")
If you were in possession of any detectable quantity of polonium, plutonium, Americium, etc., chances are you’d be violating some statute. With marijuana or opium poppies, you could at least claim that they grew there naturally… ---
**Author:** ![MannyL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MannyL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MannyL)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-inanimate-object-be-illegal/387768/27 "2007-01-13T12:18:01Z")
I still say it’s not Guns that kill but Bullets ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-inanimate-object-be-illegal/387768/28 "2007-01-13T16:29:29Z")
[QUOTE=Krokodil] If you were in possession of any detectable quantity of polonium, plutonium, Americium, etc., chances are you’d be violating some statute. With marijuana or opium poppies, you could at least claim that they grew there naturally… [/QUOTE] Nope, [Smoke detectors](http://chemistry.about.com/cs/howthingswork/a/aa071401a.htm) have americium-241 (perhaps 1/5000th of a gram) in them. You can buy other radioactive elements with a federal permit. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-inanimate-object-be-illegal/387768/29 "2007-01-13T19:15:55Z")
[QUOTE=mks57] Wrong. What about the M16, and other fun toys, that I possessed while in the military? [/quote] Every single one of them is registered. If I called Colt or FN and read them the serial number to my M4, they would tell me it was sold to such and such military agency. Everytime an NFA weapon is transfered, the ATF is informed and the registry is updated to reflect the new owner. Every Police Department, Military or Federal Agency needs to fill out paperwork to purchase machineguns. Even NASA is allowed to buy machineguns, but they have to fill out paperwork and seek ATF approval like everyone else. All those M16s and ‘other fun toys’ have a papertrail. So I will say it again, since it’s not wrong: “An NFA weapon that is not on the registry is illegal, period. And firearms illegally imported into the country are illegal no matter what. No one can possess them legally, not even the cops. They can ‘store’ them in the evidence locker pending a trial, but after that they have to be destroyed.” ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-inanimate-object-be-illegal/387768/30 "2007-01-13T19:21:36Z")
[QUOTE=yBeayf] So a governmental law enforcement agency that has seized such a weapon and is holding it for evidence or in the process of destroying it is possessing it illegally? [/QUOTE] I think you’re reaching hard. It’s still a banned item. The item itself is “banned or forbidden by law”, therefore it is illegal. That is the definition. Cops sometimes have to seize items that are banned or forbidden by law. That’s their fuckin job. Also, we can add “Kiddie Porn” to the list of ananimate objects that are illegal. ---
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-inanimate-object-be-illegal/387768/31 "2007-01-13T20:50:38Z")
[QUOTE=Bear\_Nenno] Every single one of them is registered. If I called Colt or FN and read them the serial number to my M4, they would tell me it was sold to such and such military agency. Everytime an NFA weapon is transfered, the ATF is informed and the registry is updated to reflect the new owner. Every Police Department, Military or Federal Agency needs to fill out paperwork to purchase machineguns. Even NASA is allowed to buy machineguns, but they have to fill out paperwork and seek ATF approval like everyone else. All those M16s and ‘other fun toys’ have a papertrail. [/QUOTE] See below: > [@](#): > > ``` > Federal government agencies, the military, and National Guard are > > ``` > > exempt from the registration or tax requirements, and generally > speaking NFA Branch removes weapons from transferrable status in > the Registry once they are transferred to the federal government. > > FAQ ON NATIONAL FIREARMS ACT WEAPONS > [http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/usr/wbardwel/public/nfalist/nfa\_faq.txt](http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/usr/wbardwel/public/nfalist/nfa_faq.txt) ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2007, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-inanimate-object-be-illegal/387768/32 "2007-01-13T21:21:22Z")
I’ll have to look into that one more. I have transferred NFA weapons to the Federal Government, and they were not exempt from paperwork. I guess what I didn’t know is that the weapons would be later removed from the registry. Interesting. So does that mean they can’t sell or trade the firearms back to a dealer in the future? That doesn’t make sense. …But it’s the government, why should it make sense? ---
**Author:** ![objectsarenotillegal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ce73a5/32.png) [@objectsarenotillegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/objectsarenotillegal)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-inanimate-object-be-illegal/387768/33 "2011-11-03T17:18:59Z")
> [@brk913](#): > > I got into a discussion over an article where someone stated, “we need to get these illegal guns off the street.” It is my position that an inanimate object, ie a gun is not in itself illegal, only the criminal possession of such an item is actually illegal. The person then tried to name objects that are illegal such as marijuana, switch blade knives, etc…I continued to explain that I do not believe an object to be illegal, it only becomes illegal after human intervention (criminal possession). What do you think? (I am in CT in the US and I know laws vary by location but I would think this would be pretty universal no matter the object or location). Persons activities with objects are illegal. An object has no agency and no equality before the law. Persons have rights, objects do not. The only way that an object can be illegal is if this is expressly written in law as with the UK Opium Act. Drugs in and of themselves are not illegal, except in the case of the UK Opium Act. The Acts to control drugs are otherwise Health Acts, NOT Acts of prohibition. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-inanimate-object-be-illegal/387768/34 "2011-11-03T23:29:56Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I can see the argument that naturally occurring items like marijuana can exist in a non-illegal status and the ownership of items like firearms might be legal or illegal depending on the circumstances. But what about a manufactured item whose possession is generally illegal - wouldn’t such an item always be illegal in every circumstance of its existence? Consider a vial of crack cocaine - under what circumstances would it not be illegal? That makes me wonder. Are there any objects (based on inherent properties such as being an instance of certain class of gun, or being made of a specific substance, rather than being based on context such as only being illegal if possessed by a convicted felon, possessed without the correct permit, possessed while under age 18) that are so utterly and totally illegal that neither the Government nor any officer, agent, or employee of the government may legally possess it? That is, in a prosecution for possession, the prosecutor need not prove that the possession was unauthorized, but need only either prove just the possession, or possession and knowledge of the nature of the object? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-inanimate-object-be-illegal/387768/35 "2011-11-03T23:50:10Z")
Zombies are probably illegal. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2011, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-inanimate-object-be-illegal/387768/36 "2011-11-04T00:14:20Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Zombies are probably illegal. We say Zombies are ‘probably undocumented’ now. ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2011, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-inanimate-object-be-illegal/387768/37 "2011-11-04T00:37:52Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > That makes me wonder. Are there any objects (based on inherent properties such as being an instance of certain class of gun, or being made of a specific substance, rather than being based on context such as only being illegal if possessed by a convicted felon, possessed without the correct permit, possessed while under age 18) that are so utterly and totally illegal that neither the Government nor any officer, agent, or employee of the government may legally possess it? IANAL, but I’d guess kiddie porn (mentioned above) is about as “inherently illegal” as anything can get (though I’d assume government agents could still legally possess it for sting operations and the like). (And on another note, I read recently that [Moon Rocks](http://opinion.latimes.com/opinionla/2011/10/has-nasa-gone-loony-moon-rocks-or-bust.html) also seem to get the Feds pretty worked up.) ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2011, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-inanimate-object-be-illegal/387768/38 "2011-11-04T00:45:11Z")
> [@zombywoof](#): > > IANAL, but I’d guess kiddie porn (mentioned above) is about as “inherently illegal” as anything can get (though I’d assume government agents could still legally possess it for sting operations and the like)… This is the type of exception I was talking about. I highly doubt that I could get a bunch of friends and “raid” a sex crimes unit headquarters and do a “citizens arrest” against all the cops there who were analyzing child pornography or had it stored in their evidence lockers. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Bosstrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstrain)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2011, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-inanimate-object-be-illegal/387768/39 "2011-11-04T01:53:06Z")
What I believe is truly amazing is that the government has delusions of grandeur and believes it has a right to keep people from doing things to themselves. For example, if you want to kill yourself or take hard drugs or otherwise do harm to you (and no one else), then the US government actually believes it has the right to stop you…what, did I read the constitution wrong? I’m pretty sure nothing in there states that they have such power, to enforce that power would, in fact, be “illegal” for the authorities to do, it can only intervene when one individual tries to harm another, in this sense, “drug pushing” can be considered an illegal act, but possession of said drug would not be, “murder” is an illegal act, but “suicide” is not something the US government can interfere with on any level, and with that in mind, a fine line needs to be drawn between murder and assisted suicide. Sorry, I forgot, not really a free country, I will now don my tin hat. However, if you ask me, no, an inanimate object cannot be illegal unless it’s being used to harm a person other than the owner of said object. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2011, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-inanimate-object-be-illegal/387768/40 "2011-11-04T02:14:29Z")
I am, through no fault of my own, in possession of an illegal inanimate object. It is not possession per se that is illegal; it is the thing itself. No matter where it is, it is illegal. It should not exist. It’s a Kenny G album. In its defense, it has never been played. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-inanimate-object-be-illegal/387768.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-inanimate-object-be-illegal/387768.md?page=3)