From Weird to Wacky: US Laws Still on The Books

The first law passed in the United States was “An Act to regulate the Time and Manner of administering certain Oaths,” signed into law by George Washington on June 1, 1789. Since then, thousands of laws have been added, and while it’s impossible to calculate an exact number, it's estimated that there are 30,000 federal statutes on the books today.

The number increases significantly when you factor in each state, county, and city that has countless rules and regulations of their own. Many of these are perfectly reasonable, based on common sense and logic. On the other hand, there are also plenty of laws on the books around the country that seem to make no sense at all.

To compile a list of weird and wacky laws still on the books in the U.S., 24/7 Tempo consulted sources including The Lawyer Portal and Black’s  Law Dictionary as well as the websites of several major law firms. In a few cases, the laws on this list were passed for good reason, at least when they were first enacted. Most of them are baffling and hard to see why a law was necessary.

This post was updated June 22nd, 2025, to reflect additional information.

Here are bizarre and absurd laws across the U.S.

• Where it's illegal: Kansas

This law is believed to have come about sometime in the late 1900s, at a time when the Kansas legislature enacted stricter food service laws. Scott Schwab, the Kansas Secretary of State, told USA Today that it was unclear whether or not the law was still on the books – but that in any case it is not enforced.

• Where it's illegal: Pennsylvania

According to the statute law enacted in 1972, "A person is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree if he deals in humanity, by trading, bartering, buying, selling, or dealing in newborns".

• Where it's illegal: Arizona

When a dam burst near Kingman in 1924, a donkey, who had for some reason stepped into an abandoned bathtub and gone to sleep, got swept downstream. The animal was saved by locals, but it became apparent to the community that a law was required to prevent this from happening again. (A similar law was passed in South Carolina regarding horses.)

• Where it's illegal: Alabama

This law is came about due to someone probably driving with obscured sight. It's not clear why anybody would need a law to keep them from engaging in this particular behavior, but maybe it's just as well to have been enacted into law.

• Where it's illegal: Rumford, Maine

For some reason, this town of about 6,000 residents on the southwestern side of the state found it necessary to officially prohibit tenants from chomping down on their landlord – and they can't sic their dog or cat or other pet on the property owner either.

• Where it's illegal: New Jersey

The New York Times discovered this prohibition on New Jersey Courts, the official website of the New Jersey judiciary, but the site gives no details on why or when the law was enacted or whether it has ever been enforced. However, according to NJ.com, this archaic rule no longer exists.

• Where it's illegal: Tennessee

Considering several contentious events that have taken place recently in the U.S. House of Representatives, maybe this should be a national law: The Tennessee Constitution bars anyone from public office if they have fought in a duel, delivered or accepted a challenge to fight a duel, or serve as "an aider or abettor in fighting a duel."

• Where it's illegal: North Carolina

This law passed in 1953 and states that "No person or persons at least 16 years of age shall while wearing a mask, hood or device whereby the person, face or voice is disguised so as to conceal the identity of the wearer, hold any manner of meeting, or make any demonstration upon the private property" without permission. It is said that the law was passed to forestall activities by the Ku Klux Klan.

• Where it's illegal: Louisiana

If you engage in "a match or contest between one or more persons and a bear for the purpose of fighting or engaging in a physical altercation," or if you charge admission to a bear fight or buy, sell, or train a bear for combat, you "shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than six months, or both."

• Where it's illegal: Chicago, IL

A local ordinance in the Windy City makes it illegal to display or sell "living baby chicks, ducklings, goslings, or other fowl or rabbits which have been dyed, colored or otherwise treated so as to impart to them an artificial color."

• Where it's illegal: Gainesville, GA

This town in northern Georgia is the center of a billion-dollar-a-year chicken industry, and styles itself "The Poultry Capital of the World." They know their yardbirds and declared in an official city proclamation in 1961 that you have to eat fried chicken with your hands – no utensils allowed.

• Where it's illegal: Alaska

Hunters who kill a moose or a caribou in the state can't just eat the steaks and chops and ribs. The Alaska Administrative Code required that "the head, heart, liver, kidneys, stomach and hide of moose" and "the heart, liver, kidneys, and fat of caribou" must be salvaged, and all edible meat must be used for human consumption.

• Where it's illegal: Alabama

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.

• Where it's illegal: Delaware

Title 24 of the Delaware Code forbids pawnbrokers to accept wheelchairs (or artificial limbs). The same law forbids scrap metal dealers from acquiring grave markers or cemetery urns without official authorization.

• Where it's illegal: Oklahoma

Title 21 of Oklahoma's state statute decrees 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."

• Where it's illegal: North Carolina

We know it can be addictive, but the state Alcohol Law Enforcement agency says enough is enough, and bans players from enjoying the game for more than five hours at a time – unless the game is at the State Fair, held every October in Raleigh.

• Where it's illegal: New Jersey

In the days of yore, nobody pumped their own gas but relied on gas station attendants, who were often dressed in white uniforms. These attendants sprung to the driver's assistance to fill the tank as well as check the oil, water, and tire pressure in the bargain. Those days may be long gone, but New Jersey just doesn't trust its residents around flammable liquids. "Because of the fire hazards directly associated with dispensing fuel," reads a state law, "it is in the public interest that gasoline station operators have the control needed over that activity,"

• Where it's illegal: Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

According to local law, most recently amended in 1977, if Halloween falls on a Sunday, dressing up in costumes and going from door to door asking for candy is a no-no. Do it on Saturday instead, says the city. If you've reached the age of 14, you can only go trick-or-treating between the hours of 6 pm and 8 pm.

• Where it's illegal: Alabama

Out of respect for religious services and those attending them, the state makes it illegal "to wear a fake mustache that causes laughter in church."

• Where it's illegal: Vermont

Title 13 of the Vermont Statutes specifies that "A person who knowingly and designedly for the purpose of competing for a purse or premium offered by an agricultural society, corporation, or association within the State, enters or drives a horse or horse kind painted or disguised…shall be imprisoned not more than six months or fined not more than $500.00, or both."

• Where it's illegal: Las Cruces, New Mexico

It is believed that this law was enacted to prevent dangerous weapons or other paraphernalia from easily being concealed and carried. Carrying your lunch in a brown paper bag is presumably okay.

• Where it's illegal: Skamania County, Washington

Bigfoot is a large, hairy, mystical creature otherwise known as Sasquatch. There are many programs dedicated to finding this elusive beast but since it is seldom seen, he/she/it must be an endangered species. This is why Washington County passed a law decreeing that the killing of this elusive creature was a felony punishable by five years in prison.

• Where it's illegal: California

If you thought that frog-jumping contests ceased to exist after the 19th century, you would be wrong. They are still held in parts of the Golden State and if any of the frogs expires during the competition, however, state law prescribes that "it must be destroyed as soon as possible, and may not be eaten or otherwise used for any purpose."

• Where it's illegal: Delaware

Title 11 of the Delaware Code reads "A person is guilty of the unlawful trade in dog or cat by-products in the second degree if the person knowingly or recklessly sells, barters or offers for sale or barter, the fur or hair of a domestic dog or cat or any product made in whole or in part from the fur or hair of a domestic dog or cat."

• Where it's illegal: New Jersey

Title 2C of the New Jersey Code warns you not to put on a bulletproof vest (defined as "bullet-resistant body armor which is intended to provide ballistic and trauma protection") if you are "engaged in the commission of, or an attempt to commit, or flight after committing or attempting to commit murder, manslaughter, robbery, sexual assault, burglary, kidnapping, criminal escape or assault."

• Where it's illegal: California, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and nine other states

According to Title 14 of the California Code, it's a misdemeanor to trip a horse by "using a wire, pole, stick, rope, etc. to cause a horse to fall or lose its balance." Besides those mentioned above, the practice is illegal in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Nevada, Nebraska, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Texas.

• Where it's illegal: Tennessee

Tennessee Code Ann. § 70-4-104 doesn't specifically mention a lasso, but outlaws using anything other than a rod, reel, and hook for fishing. But it's too bad that Tennessee has outlawed this practice because we'd like to see somebody try.

• Where it's illegal: Indiana

Laws like this were brought up in other states in earlier centuries due to an increased population using horse-drawn carriages and buggies as a means of transportation. Much like cars, these carriages caused congestion, and "speeding" was an issue.

It's not clear why this became law in Indiana but the state officially forbids horses to be ridden above this rather modest speed limit.Since a cantering horse can reach a speed of about 18 mph, if you're an Indiana equestrian, rein in your steed.

• Where it's illegal: Idaho

Title 18, Chapter 50 of the Idaho Statutes, headlined "Mayhem," enacted in 1990, warns that "Any person who wilfully ingests the flesh or blood of a human being is guilty of cannibalism" – a crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison. A bill was introduced in early 2024 to add to what constitutes cannibalism.

• Where it's illegal: Massachusetts

This is only one of several absurd laws and while this law, and others, is no longer enforced, it's still on the books.