# Do Any Localities Ban Mundane Things? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 27, 2008, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-localities-ban-mundane-things/478846 "2008-12-27T14:54:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-localities-ban-mundane-things/478846/41 "2008-12-29T03:42:46Z")
> [@Madgolf](#): > > Hollywood banned silly string by muni code. Actually, Los Angeles passed that code. Hollywood isn’t a governmental agency, it’s just a district of L.A., and doesn’t even have any defined boundaries. And the law only applies to Hollywood Blvd. on _Halloween night_. It’s because the street becomes a near riotous bacchanalia on that night, and people were squirting Silly String on just about any passer-by. Plus it was a mess to clean up the next day. [Cite.](http://laist.com/2008/10/30/use_silly_string_in_hollywood_get_a.php) It’s similar with the driving down the same street in the same direction twice in an hour: it was to prevent cruising, and only enforced on cruising night. Obviously it couldn’t be enforced all the time everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirror_Image_egamI_rorriM)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-localities-ban-mundane-things/478846/42 "2008-12-29T04:17:12Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > In TX and other states, they have “Blue Laws” that ban the selling of certain things on Sundays. In one area, my freinds were told that selling tires was illegal on a Sunday!:eek: My dad and I shop at a Price Chopper in Kansas every Sunday night. You can buy beer before 8pm. We try to shop before then so my dad can get his…non-alcoholic beer. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-localities-ban-mundane-things/478846/43 "2008-12-29T04:50:43Z")
Skamania County, Washington banned the hunting of Bigfoot several years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-localities-ban-mundane-things/478846/44 "2008-12-29T05:15:16Z")
The local council adjacent to mine has [banned buskers and charity collectors, unless they get prior approval.](http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24850181-5001021,00.html) ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-localities-ban-mundane-things/478846/45 "2008-12-29T06:00:39Z")
One of the towns in north Jersey has an ordinance prohibiting eating in a car. Talk radio guys occasionally talk about it and folks call up telling their tales of getting busted in the parking lot of Mickey D’s with burger in hand. Apparently it’s aimed at reducing littering. They have warnings posted at fast food drive through windows. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-localities-ban-mundane-things/478846/46 "2008-12-29T06:39:01Z")
> [@Dog80](#): > > I can’t speak for the US, but in most European countries you have to pay an annual road tax. Paying this tax gives you the right to use the car on public roads and also the right to park. Since you don’t pay a road tax for the boat (or\*\* trailer\*\*, flowerbed, whatever), it is illegal to put it on the side of the road and you are liable for obstruction. Bolding mine. A trailer (including the one the boat sits on) most certainly has to be registered at the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles), and is therefore taxed. If your post was accurate, it’d be illegal to tow a boat behind your vehicle. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-localities-ban-mundane-things/478846/47 "2008-12-29T06:40:33Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > One of the towns in north Jersey has an ordinance prohibiting eating in a car. > > Talk radio guys occasionally talk about it and folks call up telling their tales of getting busted in the parking lot of Mickey D’s with burger in hand. Apparently it’s aimed at reducing littering. They have warnings posted at fast food drive through windows. I heard a news report about nasty car accident in L.A. with serious injuries (maybe even a death), and the driver at fault said he lost control of his steering wheel because he was eating KFC and his fingers were too greasy. ---
**Author:** ![Hap\_Shaughnessy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecc23a/32.png) [@Hap\_Shaughnessy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hap_Shaughnessy)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-localities-ban-mundane-things/478846/48 "2008-12-29T07:49:19Z")
Until a couple years ago, hunting with a gun on a Sunday was illegal in Ontario. I think this was the last vestige of our Blue Laws, but I wouldn’t doubt that a few absurd lines still exist buried somewheres in our books. ---
**Author:** ![WoodenTaco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/45deac/32.png) [@WoodenTaco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WoodenTaco)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-localities-ban-mundane-things/478846/49 "2008-12-29T08:59:41Z")
It’s illegal to whistle in Evanston, Illinois, home of Northwestern University “particularly between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.,” per the city’s [Noise Ordinance](http://www.sterlingcodifiers.com/IL/Evanston/11005000000035000.htm). ---
**Author:** ![jellyblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@jellyblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellyblue)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-localities-ban-mundane-things/478846/50 "2008-12-29T09:11:57Z")
I can’t buy [these cookie decorations](http://www.thebakerskitchen.net/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=70&gclid=CJy_nLG85ZcCFQu-GgodkVhxDw) in California, nor can I legally have them shipped here, which is really annoying since my grandma always put them on cookies when I was a kid and I’m nostalgic for [del]breaking my teeth on[/del] them.:mad: ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-localities-ban-mundane-things/478846/51 "2008-12-29T12:55:41Z")
The cut Christmas tree ban is also in some Maryland jurisdictions near DC. The logic is the hazzard due to fire but it makes some assumptions about the harvest timeline that don’t hold up. Probably better to sell them early and get them in some water versus requiring they be stored out of town for a few weeks (already cut is some cases). ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-localities-ban-mundane-things/478846/52 "2008-12-29T13:27:54Z")
> [@sailor](#): > > How on earth is this GQ? Maybe we should just rename it “Urban legends and making up shit” and be done with it. Otherwise I am calling BS on half the posts and demanding cites. Cite regarding Pennsylvania’s ban on selling cars on Sundays: > [@](#): > > From the Arizona Daily Star, of all places: > [Sunday car sales illegal in nine states](http://www.azstarnet.com/business/148029.php) > Arizona has no laws banning auto sales on Sundays, but at least nines states or counties in those states, ban Sunday car sales: Colorado, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. Texas also prohibits auto sales on consecutive Saturdays and Sundays, forcing dealers to take off one weekend day. I’d quote the actual Pennsylvania code but the commonwealth website is so arcane and the search function so useless that it’d take me hours to find it. I retract my statement regarding [backyard chickens in Colorado](http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:NuPw1ApAUhwJ:www.ci.longmont.co.us/city_council/agendas/2008/documents/072208_11b2.pdf+owning+chickens+Colorado&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us&client=firefox-a). The ban may technically be on the state books but it doesn’t seem to be enforced. I’m not particularly moved to try to find descriptions of the Texas blue laws circa 1976 for the purposes of citing a childhood memory. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-localities-ban-mundane-things/478846/53 "2008-12-29T13:30:24Z")
> [@jellyblue](#): > > I can’t buy [these cookie decorations](http://www.thebakerskitchen.net/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=70&gclid=CJy_nLG85ZcCFQu-GgodkVhxDw) in California, nor can I legally have them shipped here, which is really annoying since my grandma always put them on cookies when I was a kid and I’m nostalgic for [del]breaking my teeth on[/del] them.:mad: So want to put ball bearings on your cookies? Just go down to Big 5. I’m sure you can buy them there. ---
**Author:** ![Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fake_Tales_of_San_Francisco)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-localities-ban-mundane-things/478846/54 "2008-12-29T14:22:03Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > This one I’d like to see a cite for. I’d read it in a newspaper once. But here is [something](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-492018/Law-dying-Parliament-voted-Britains-absurd-legislation.html). Upon further research it was probably made up. Probably similar to the law regarding shooting Welshmen in Bristol. ---
**Author:** ![cedman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cedman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cedman)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-localities-ban-mundane-things/478846/55 "2008-12-29T14:56:13Z")
In Nicholas County , West Virginia, it is illegal for a minister/preacher to tell a funny joke/story from the pulpit. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-localities-ban-mundane-things/478846/56 "2008-12-29T15:27:09Z")
> [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](#): > > In Britain, it’s illegal to die inside the Houses of Parliament… Suggested penalty: death! ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-localities-ban-mundane-things/478846/57 "2008-12-29T15:59:32Z")
> [@cedman](#): > > In Nicholas County , West Virginia, it is illegal for a minister/preacher to tell a funny joke/story from the pulpit. Have you ever heard the jokes most ministers tell? This seems like a great thing to make part of international law. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-localities-ban-mundane-things/478846/58 "2008-12-29T16:09:36Z")
> [@sailor](#): > > How on earth is this GQ? Maybe we should just rename it “Urban legends and making up shit” and be done with it. Otherwise I am calling BS on half the posts and demanding cites. Not sure which one of your halfs you feel my contributions fall into but here are your cites: Massachusetts slingshots: [http://pweb.netcom.com/~brlevine/ma.txt](http://pweb.netcom.com/~brlevine/ma.txt) Ferrets banned in California, Hawaii, also Washington DC and NYC, many other jurisdictions: [http://home.netcom.com/~redshoes/ffzlist.html](http://home.netcom.com/~redshoes/ffzlist.html) **Shagnasty** were you allowed to stand at the bar with the drink on the bar and sip it through a straw? On second thought that is too much trouble, I’ve been to Woburn and it is smarter just to stay out. ---
**Author:** ![jellyblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@jellyblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellyblue)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-localities-ban-mundane-things/478846/59 "2008-12-29T16:34:52Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > So want to put ball bearings on your cookies? Just go down to Big 5. I’m sure you can buy them there. But, but…they’re _shiny_! ---
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-localities-ban-mundane-things/478846/60 "2008-12-29T17:23:38Z")
[Cite](http://www.carmelcalifornia.org/relocation/index.asp)for sailor - Re: Neon signs banned in Carmel. \*Local law preserves Carmel’s rustic quaintness by prohibiting stop lights, neon signs, live music in bars and commercial enterprise on the beach. \* [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-localities-ban-mundane-things/478846.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-localities-ban-mundane-things/478846.md?page=4)