Rex Trulove
It is easy to see that every state has its fair share of strange, silly, or outdated laws. In some cases, a law makes sense, too, but it is hard to imagine why it was necessary to pass the law, in the first place.
It isn’t surprising that Arizona, in the desert southwest, has some strange laws, too. Here are some of them.
* In Arizona, restaurants can only sell horse meat on their menus if there is a warning message in green. I’m thinking that it is likely that few restaurants even sell horse meat and it is quite likely that few people would order it. I really don’t see there being an item listed for a McWhinny, with a green warning or otherwise.
* Stealing is illegal in all states. However, in Arizona, the penalty for stealing soap is that the thief must wash themselves with the soap until it is entirely used up. I’ll admit that such a public spectacle would be a pretty good deterrent.
* In Arizona, if you commit any misdemeanor at all while wearing a red ski mask, it is automatically a felony offense.
* In Arizona, it is illegal to eat grass anywhere that sheep or cows are grazing. Like, someone would want to? This one conjures up a few “eww” mental images.
* It is difficult to see the sense in this one: In Arizona, it is illegal for children to sing nursery rhymes after 8 pm. “Aww, mom, can’t I sing just one more nursery rhyme before bedtime?” “No. The law says you can’t because it is 8 o’clock.”
* In Arizona, it is against the law for more than 6 women to live in the same house at the same time.
* In Arizona, it is against the law to shoot a camel. This one makes marginal sense, in that there are persistent reports of sightings of wild camels. I could understand why they would want to protect them. This law may be outdated, but on the other hand, it might not be.
* In Arizona, it is against the law to sing in a public place if you are wearing a bathing suit. It is unclear why this law came about or what connection there is between singing and attire or lack thereof.
* In Arizona, it is illegal to wear suspenders. Naturally, wearing belts is okay.
* In Arizona, it is illegal for donkeys to sleep in the bathtub. I can’t help but wonder what they do with the donkeys that break this law. It seems like sort of a jackass law, to me, unless a person is mule-headed.
* In Arizona, it is against the law for anyone who is over 18 years of age to have more than one missing tooth visible when they are smiling. This is apparently a law in Tombstone, Arizona, but I can’t verify that it actually is.
* In Arizona, a person must be at least 18 in order to buy, own, or use spray paint. Further, it is illegal for anyone over 18 to give or loan spray paint to anyone who is under 18. This one actually makes some sense if you think along the lines of the spray paint being used for creating graffiti. Still, it pre-supposes that this will stop the graffiti and that people who are 18 and over won’t use the paint for that purpose.
* I’m including this ‘bonus’ law because it is actually ingenious. In Arizona, it is against the law to make, have, or distribute an imitation controlled substance. In other words, fake drugs are illegal. The ingenious part is that if someone is arrested for having drugs, the police don’t have to wait to test the drugs to see what kind of drugs they are. The person will still have broken the law if the drugs aren’t real. If a person has a baggie of white powder and is arrested for having cocaine, even if it turns out that the powder was talcum powder, it is still against the law.
So there you have it; 13 strange laws in Arizona. Some of these make a little sense and one is ingenious, but all of these are a little strange.
The missing tooth law sounds like Doc Holiday was making laws in Tombstone! I find it funny to read these posts, Rex. I just hope I never get charged with one of these laws!
It wouldn’t surprise me a bit if the Tombstone law was sponsored by Doc. It would have meant more money for him.
🙂
true
I used to always wonder if they called it Tombstone because there were more tombstones than residents.
You probably weren’t the first to wonder that. Tombstone was actually named by one of the founders, named Schieffelin, who was a miner. Some stories say that the name came from people who told him that all he was likely to find out in that desert was a tombstone. Others say that it was because when he found a rich vein of silver and staked his claim, it happened to be near the tombstone of another man. Either way, it is actually pretty interesting.
It is, thanks for sharing that! I found one for you – in Utah it is illegal to mail a concrete block building (block by block) across the state!!
LOL…that is a good one. I should do Utah soon. I also have New Mexico in mind for another. I’m delaying on doing one for California because there are so many. 😀
Maryland has a lot, although some are strange if you consider them they actually make sense (like wastewater, which in Maryland ends up in the Chesapeake Bay!)
Thank you for sharing the laws in the state of Arizona.
Thank you for sharing this information. So, how long will someone take a bath to consume entirely one soap?
I wish we also have this law. * It is difficult to see the sense in this one: In Arizona, it is illegal for children to sing nursery rhymes after 8 pm. “Aww, mom, can’t I sing just one more nursery rhyme before bedtime?” “No. The law says you can’t because it is 8 o’clock.”
But not with children but those adults who spend time singing karaoke even late at night.
In Montana, we actually do have laws against noise disturbances at night, after 9 pm. It can be music, partying, barking dogs, or what have you, but if it is called in, a cop will typically park in front of the place of the person making the call. If they can hear the noise from that location, it is too loud. They’ll go and ask the people to stop making the noise and the second warning results in a ticket.
So I guess that, if you want to sing in a public place, you have to take off your bathing suit.
That would be a logical assumption.
I went tubing once in Arizona. Considering wht the girls were wearing then, they might as well.
On that law about eating grass while sheep are grazing, would that be eww or ewe?
After careful consideration, I’d say, “Yes.” lol
Are you sure you aren’t a politician? 🙂
lol…I can be ambiguous, but I’ve never been good at lying while keeping a straight face, so I wouldn’t make a good politician.
You might want to pass on being a lawyer also.
“* Stealing is illegal in all states. However, in Arizona, the penalty for stealing soap is that the thief must wash themselves with the soap until it is entirely used up. I’ll admit that such a public spectacle would be a pretty good deterrent.” This one made me laugh so hard my face hurts.
Now what is really funny is my husband wants to figure out how long it takes for a bar of soap to be totally gone.
Thanks for making my day!
I’m glad that you liked it. As for the answer, I’m thinking that it would depend on whether water was used or not.
ooh waoo, good to know Rex!
Good to know. The suspenders kind of thing is very strange to treat as a crime. It’s totally weird
You’re totally correct. Why they came up with such a law is beyond me.