OFF: Silly laws in the USA

QUEST dcapehar at UTDALLAS.EDU
Thu Jan 16 12:56:27 EST 1997


On Wed, 15 Jan 1997, Ed Gallagher wrote:
> I remember hearing that it's illegal to cary an ice cream cone in your
> pocket in Texas.

Actually, that is not quite right.  Having been required to take a Texas
Government class as part of my core curriculum (along with all those other
darn history and humanities courses), I heard about a similar law from
which the above bastardization emerged.

Texas has the second most wordy constitution in the Union - about 200
amendments, last time I checked.  As a result of the relative ease with
which our state congress (and the general population) can amend the
constitution, there are many laws therein that are completely ludicrous.
The constitutional law that Ed's statement reminded me of is the
following:  it is unconstitutional (illegal) for anyone to carry a
concealed set of wire-cutters in a certain county <I forget which> in
Texas.

Why your statement reminded me of that one I'm not sure... probably
something to do with the word "pocket".  Hmmm...

Damon



More information about the boc-l mailing list