People In This Online Group Shared 40 Things That Are Illegal But Most People Don’t Even Know It
Did you ever stop and think that laws are made for people to follow, but most of us haven't actually read them? What is more, there is a whole profession dedicated to explaining laws and in order to become a lawyer, a judge, or a specialist in that field, you have to study it for several years. So it's no wonder that there are laws in our home country law systems that would surprise us.
Maybe Reddit user Krallorddark had a similar thought, because they asked, "What is illegal but most people don't even know it?" In less than 24 hours, the thread got over 50k upvotes and over 20k comments. People shared some really weird laws and some laws that actually make sense, but somehow people don't know about them.
What would you answer to Krallorddark's question? Leave it in the comments and don't forget to upvote the laws shared by people that surprised you the most!
More info: Reddit
This post may include affiliate links.
In Nevada there's an old law still on the books where a property owner may hang an individual who shoots a dog on their property.
Also you can't take your camel out on state highways.
YOU CANT TAKE YOUR CAMEL OUT ON STATE HIGHWAYS?! I bet that gives a lot of people the hump!
Tickling someone without their consent is a form of assault. But yeah
Yesterday I learned that riding a bike while drunk is just as illegal as drunk driving, just not regularly enforced
In my country suicide is considered a felony.
Its to allow first responders more ways to act. Like so a policeofficer can kick down a door or hospitals can force a short period of observation on a sucidal person, never any jailtime involved.
If you consider involuntary section "not jail time" you are wrong. In the UK, at least, you are held in a police cell for up to 72 hours depending on the availability of a psychiatrist.
Under a 1940s anti-poaching law, not only is possessing or selling a bald eagle illegal ... possessing any part of a bald eagle, including their feathers, is illegal.
Find a bald eagle feather while hiking? Technically, picking that thing up and sticking it in your pocket means a $250,000 fine.
Edit: As has been pointed out to me repeatedly, if you belong to a native American tribe that is enrolled in a federal program that exempts you from the above.
In Alaska it's illegal to whisper in someone's ear while they deer hunt.
This law is an ass! How does anyone know if someone is whispering in some ones ear? And if so, what is wrong with that?
Washing oil paint down the sink. It can contaminate drinking water.
As a painting and decorating tutor this is true. It has to be properly exposed of by taking it to the recycling center or passing it on as donations. This is also the same with white spirits/terps. If you are disposing spirits/terps always put it in a tightly sealed container and write the contents on the out side of it.
Scottish here, it's a legal requirement to let a stranger use your toilet if he or she asks.
So if some random drunk comes to your door at stupid o'clock in the morning choking for a s***e, you better be letting them in
One of my friends studied abroad in the UK (from the US) and didn't realize pepper spray is illegal there until a British student told her. Most female students at our university in the US carry it everywhere so it didn't even occur to her it would be illegal. No clue how she got through the airport with it in the first place but luckily she was able to dispose of it without getting in trouble
I have been told to declare it is an animal repellent and not for muggers/rapists and you are fine. (Germany)
Walking down the street with an ice cream cone in your back pocket in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
Apparently, there was a law that if a horse was on your property, you could claim it as your own. In comes the ice cream cone as a lure for the horse as you lead them to your property.....
Also, no joke, it is illegal to kill to Bigfoot, if spotted, in America
Wow. I’m gonna find Bigfoot. Not kill it, but not give it to the authorities. Is that illegal?
In a few states in the US there are laws on the books barring atheists from holding public office.
Granted these fit into the "exist but don't really get enforced" category, but they exist nonetheless.
Just because you have your turn signals on dosen't mean that the you have the right to merge. If the lane isn't clear you are the one breaking the law.
And if you close up and don't let people merge, you may be legally right but you're an asshole.
Driving consistently slower than the speed limit, without legitimate reason to do so (like road conditions or a vehicle problem). In fact, in some states, it is more points on your license than speeding.
Stepping into a public fountain. Yes, Joey, Chandler, Ross, Pheobe, Rachel and Monica, I’m talking to you. Guess I’ll be there for you … in jail.
In Florida its illegal to tie an alligator to a parking meter unless you pay for parking
Edit- Apparently it was passed for elephants because of discrimination against circus workers according to u/Carrotcake1988 and u/DaveTheNotecard
In the US giving any federal employee, especially postal workers, any gift in an amount over $20 each and no greater than $50 in a year. I believe the government wanted to try to ban any gifts, but people were so attached to their postal workers and wanted to give them something so they did relent, with those strict guidelines above.
License plate covers. I saw one yesterday that was tinted and you literally couldn’t read the plate even in broad daylight. But even clear ones are illegal (in Ohio anyway)
The Salmon Act 1986 is an act of Parliament which outlines the difference between legal and illegal salmon fishery, among other things. The Act also makes it illegal to "handle salmon in suspicious circumstances"
My Dad was a poacher (we grew up really poor) rabbit and pheasant were treats when I was growing up. He never went after salmon, trout yes, salmon no.
Carrying a permanent marker or other permanent-staining stationary is illegal in many countries under graffiti laws.
WOW! Understandable though but would spray paints apply to the same law?
Apparently hunting whales with a harpoon from your airplane in arkansas (this is legit)
The failure to spend 2 hours a week practicing with a longbow.
This law was setup in the middle ages and it required ever male over the age of 14 to practice with a longbow every week.
The laws still in place but has been massively overlooked and forgotten.
Profiting from the photographs of Eiffel Tower taken at night.
NO WAY! Is it some kind of copy writing or something? How are they going to know if it is taken at night, printed on canvas and sold in other countries?
In my home state of Tennessee, it's illegal to use a lasso to catch fish.
You can give a friend or family member a lift for free, but if they have paid you, even fuel costs, then you are now an unlicensed taxi.
Importing Kinder Surprise eggs to the US from your trip abroad. You won't go to jail, but if you are unlucky and the customs agent is not very lenient you can face a fine for every egg you tried to smuggle in.
According to some sources the fine per egg could go up to $2500, but I couldn't find a case where someone was actually fined that much. The most I could find in my 5 minute research was a Canadian woman who got fined $300 (Canadian) for trying to bring in one egg. I guess in most cases the customs agents will just confiscate the eggs and give you a warning.
Lol. Meanwhile in France we hide tiny ceramic figures in our epiphany cakes to make people choke on it or break their teeth. And when kids are involved we always manage to give the kids the choking hazard part of the cake as a kind gesture. We do know how to party! Some people died but we don't care and a lot of people collect the tiny figures who were in strangers mouths, that's an actual market.
Load More Replies...
It is tragic that a country will ban chocolate with toys because of child safety, but will do nothing about guns that kills hundreds of children every year.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Load More Replies...
I had to sound off on this one. Kinder Eggs are NOT banned in the US because of a choking hazard. It has to do with The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act 1938 that banned any " non-nutritive object" inside a consumable. A result of a drug company putting Ethylene glycol in cough syrup to make it taste better. The toy inside, (though I agree it is a technicality) unfortunately falls under non-nutritive. There is a video on Youtube "Today I found Out - Why are kinder Eggs Illegal in the USA?" It's really good and informative. I'm an American and I thought they were banned for the choking hazard too. By the by, went to Europe a few years back, and my youngest son and I bought as many as my wife would let us (heh-heh). We brought of toys home and build a display case for them for his room.
I guess I got lucky cause I brought around a dozen back from Canada to the US about 10 years ago & it was never even brought up by customs.
It's not allowed to mix chocolate and toys. but you could probably cover your rifle in chocolate O_o
Load More Replies...
Its real. The kinder eggs sold in the US are different. No tiny toy inside.
Load More Replies...
My dad was briefly a TSA agent and used this exact law to harass a grandma coming in from Germany to visit family in the US. He said he even threatened to put her on the "do not fly" list since she was criminally importing contraband. Laws like this give bullies an opportunity to hurt people, they need to be redacted.
Wow, how sad for your dad to feel good about harassing an old lady over a tiny chocolate egg. He must've really had some insecurities he was taking out on people with the Kinder egg law
Load More Replies...
I found them for sale in a polish shop in Mass. My American friends were stunned. They explained about the capsule being a choking hazard. I could barely fit it in my mouth. So I'm sorry, but any kid that chokes on one has to be REALLY trying!
They sell them here now. I saw them at Kroger just the other day. Are ours different than the originals? (I’ve never had one myself.)
My understanding is that they are different than the ones sold in other countries. Foreign ones are called Kinder "Surprise" eggs and have a plastic capsule in the egg with a toy inside. American Kinder "Joy" eggs are a contraption in some sort of packaging where half of the egg is the sealed candy, and the other half is sealed with a toy inside.
Load More Replies...
Can you buy them in the states? What if you ordered them online and had them shipped? Then it would be the international trading regulations that would apply.
There is a version available in the states that does not have the tiny toy inside of it. You cannot order it and get it shipped into the United States
Load More Replies... FDA does not allow eating size toys inside any edible product. One could choke to death and people may yell out "Surprise". This would set off fire alarms and fire and police would race down the road running over many people, who have no "Surprise Egg, nor intention of having one. Let's slow down America. remember what happened to "Jack in the Box"
I guess I got lucky. I brought a few in and didn’t get caught. I didn’t even know it was illegal! They are soooo good though and I liked the little toys inside
I miss Kinder Surprise eggs. My mom brought some back from Germany when I was a kid. They were so good!
The original makers children where on Shark Tank a few years ago to get it restarted in the US.
We now sell Kinder Surprise eggs in the U.S. The store I work at in Kansas has carried them for over a year.
Now I see them a all the time at grocery stores and corner stores here in Oregon, so no need to sneak in luggage, lol.
They are different here. They don't have the tiny toy in them
Load More Replies...
Now they sell them in stores here in the U.S. So much for safety standards!
I think that what you can have is Kinder Joy, not Kinder Surprise. The first one come in 2 separate parts, and the second one is a chocolate egg with the toy inside of it, in a yellow plastic capsule. They probably made Kinder Joy to avoid the law against Kinder Surprise since the toy is not inside the chocolate egg.
Load More Replies...
the yellow eggs are often used for smuggling things inside of peoples' bodies....
Yet in America it's perfectly legal for an African-American woman to serve you chicken fried rice with neckbones in it.
having stuff hanging from your rear view mirror.
This one I actually knew. It's a distraction and obstructs the field of view...
There is a long list of over the counter medication you can legally purchase, but cannot take it into another country.
In supermarkets you are limited to 3 boxes of painkillers per person per transaction in the UK. There is nothing stopping you buying 20 boxes but in separate transactions.
Changing your own light bulbs; in Australia, the law says you must hire a licensed electrician to do it.
You have to know how to play an accordion in North Korea to be able to teach.
Chico, CA, it's a $500 fine to make or have a nuclear weapon within city limits
"No person shall produce, test, maintain, or store within the city a nuclear weapon, component of a nuclear weapon, nuclear weapon delivery system, or component of a nuclear weapon delivery system under penalty of Chapter 9.60.030 of the Chico Municipal Code."
In Texas, there is still a law on the books that it is a crime to carry bolt cutters around. It is a leftover from the days of cattle rustlers, when the bad guys would use bolt cutters to take down barbed wire fencing. Pretty sure it hasn't been prosecuted in a hundred years.
You can go to Lowes and buy weed-killer off the shelf and use it on your property. You can use it on your parent's property. If you use it on your neighbor's property and he gives you $20, that's a felony.
Edit: Treating according to label instructions for friends and family without compensation does not qualify as a business activity most places. If you do this and receive compensation, then you're conducting business and under the law you should have a commercial applicator's licence. This is mostly an example of a badly- written law that is too open- ended. I don't know anyone who has got in any real legal trouble over an unlicensed jug of roundup, but they could.
Having a lobster of a certain size in your possession.
California Law stating that it is illegal to wash your neighbor’s car without their permission.
Also, in San Francisco and Long Beach here you cannot store anything other than an automobile in your garage.
Edit: This is no longer a law/ordinance in Long Beach anymore.
The SF one is for commercial structures only, but at one point it definitely was illegal to use your garage as anything other than a parking spot for your car. People could do stuff like rent out their garage, tax free.
Makes sense that u shouldn't mess with peoples stuff without their permission.
Note: this post originally had 44 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.
In Canada, there is a federal law on the books that requires all post offices to have a hitching post out front. Yes. I have seen many post offices (mostly rural) who DO comply with the law.
In some very rural areas, that hitching post just might get a fair bit of use.
Load More Replies...
There are countless old and outdated laws that aren’t enforced, but just haven’t been taken off the books yet. Some of them make no sense today, yet others that didn’t make sense for decades suddenly do again in the right circumstances. We used to laugh at laws against spitting in public places. But those laws were put in place to protect people from communicable diseases that could be passed through that spittle. Though originally pertaining to diseases like tuberculosis, certain people’s more recent reactions to COVID restrictions have made those old anti-spitting laws make sense again. Unfortunately.
In the UK, it is legal for a pregnant woman to use a Police Constable's helmet to have a wee in.
In Austria, using your actual, legal, legitimate title of nobility or your real surname with its noble particle (de, von, zu, di...) is a crime. They even ticketed their own emperor for using his real surname : von Habsburg-Lothringen.
Under Dutch law.. If a burglar comes into your house, don't lock him up in your toilet. because then you rob him of his freedom. Natural areas may not be visited at sunrise and sunset . your in-laws will always remain your in-laws. even if you are separated from your partner. We need to pay taxes to have a dog. The more dogs, the more taxes. In the city of Rotterdam, its illegal when your dog barks. You can get fined 130 euros. In another city its illegal to look through/into someone else's window. So when you pass a house there, just look straight ahead of you.
And yet another "weird law" article comes without mentioning Oregon's drip-dry dish law. It's as dumb as it sounds: there's a law on the books that says that you cannot wipe down dishes after washing, they have to be allowed to drip-dry. Nobody follows it.
In Virginia, it is a felony to sell deer antlers, even if they are just sheds off the ground. My former husband was arrested for this, and even the judge had never heard of such a law.
We lived in a small town in Ohio where my son found out it was illegal to walk your cow down the middle of the road. And no, he didn't find out by breaking the law, he found out when doing a middle school class assignment. He found it quite amusing at the time.
WOW! So if they divorce does he still get to keep it?
Load More Replies...
It's illegal to pump your own gas in New Jersey and some parts of Oregon.
In California you cannot buy anything larger than a 1 quart container of oil-based paints. You can buy 1,000 gallons in 4,000 cans but that's the only way.
Real, enforceable laws: (1) In New Jersey and I think Oregon (at least until recently) it's illegal to put gas in your own car. You have to have a station employee do it for you. (2) A lot of people though Rep. Ocasio-Cortez was an idiot for being unfamiliar with a trash disposal unity, but they're illegal in New York where she's from. (3) I found out the hard way that whereas in New York, you must swap license plates when you swap cars, in Virginia it's a misdemeanor to do so. I got out of jail time by demonstrating that the law required mens rea, the will to violate the law. The purpose of the law is to prevent OTHER crimes, so the fact that I could PROVE that it wasn't in furtherance of a crime made the law unenforceable. (4) Sorry for repeating myself, but you'd better be able to PROVE you're carrying a flashlight or a wrench for a legitimate reason in many states where it is illegal to carry "the tools of a trade" that is criminal.
WV has a law that it's legal to beat your wife so long as it is done in public on Sunday, on the courthouse steps.
“Hey honey let’s go to WV on Sunday”. Wait. I’m the female… I didn’t think this through… 🙀
Load More Replies...
In Finland it's illegal to mail order certain vitamins, you can even get a a fine for smuggling illegal substances for ordering the 5,000 IU Vitamin D capsules. Also bringing over 80% vodka in the country is illegal, but that's understandable as alcohol in that strength is basically poison.
Cannabis, a weed that grows in all 50 states, is illegal on a fedral level in the United States.
And Ms. Dominauskaitė is not a bad-looking woman,
Load More Replies...
In Montana, it's illegal to leave a sheep in the cab of a running vehicle. In Cle Elum, WA (where they filmed Northern Exposure) it's illegal to ride an ugly horse in town. As I said before, it's illegal in Alaska to feed alcoholic drinks to a moose or to push a moose out of an airplane. Oh..and you can't wrestle bears in Missouri.
In Canada, there is a federal law on the books that requires all post offices to have a hitching post out front. Yes. I have seen many post offices (mostly rural) who DO comply with the law.
In some very rural areas, that hitching post just might get a fair bit of use.
Load More Replies... There are countless old and outdated laws that aren’t enforced, but just haven’t been taken off the books yet. Some of them make no sense today, yet others that didn’t make sense for decades suddenly do again in the right circumstances. We used to laugh at laws against spitting in public places. But those laws were put in place to protect people from communicable diseases that could be passed through that spittle. Though originally pertaining to diseases like tuberculosis, certain people’s more recent reactions to COVID restrictions have made those old anti-spitting laws make sense again. Unfortunately.
In the UK, it is legal for a pregnant woman to use a Police Constable's helmet to have a wee in.
In Austria, using your actual, legal, legitimate title of nobility or your real surname with its noble particle (de, von, zu, di...) is a crime. They even ticketed their own emperor for using his real surname : von Habsburg-Lothringen.
Under Dutch law.. If a burglar comes into your house, don't lock him up in your toilet. because then you rob him of his freedom. Natural areas may not be visited at sunrise and sunset . your in-laws will always remain your in-laws. even if you are separated from your partner. We need to pay taxes to have a dog. The more dogs, the more taxes. In the city of Rotterdam, its illegal when your dog barks. You can get fined 130 euros. In another city its illegal to look through/into someone else's window. So when you pass a house there, just look straight ahead of you.
And yet another "weird law" article comes without mentioning Oregon's drip-dry dish law. It's as dumb as it sounds: there's a law on the books that says that you cannot wipe down dishes after washing, they have to be allowed to drip-dry. Nobody follows it.
In Virginia, it is a felony to sell deer antlers, even if they are just sheds off the ground. My former husband was arrested for this, and even the judge had never heard of such a law.
We lived in a small town in Ohio where my son found out it was illegal to walk your cow down the middle of the road. And no, he didn't find out by breaking the law, he found out when doing a middle school class assignment. He found it quite amusing at the time.
WOW! So if they divorce does he still get to keep it?
Load More Replies... It's illegal to pump your own gas in New Jersey and some parts of Oregon.
In California you cannot buy anything larger than a 1 quart container of oil-based paints. You can buy 1,000 gallons in 4,000 cans but that's the only way.
Real, enforceable laws: (1) In New Jersey and I think Oregon (at least until recently) it's illegal to put gas in your own car. You have to have a station employee do it for you. (2) A lot of people though Rep. Ocasio-Cortez was an idiot for being unfamiliar with a trash disposal unity, but they're illegal in New York where she's from. (3) I found out the hard way that whereas in New York, you must swap license plates when you swap cars, in Virginia it's a misdemeanor to do so. I got out of jail time by demonstrating that the law required mens rea, the will to violate the law. The purpose of the law is to prevent OTHER crimes, so the fact that I could PROVE that it wasn't in furtherance of a crime made the law unenforceable. (4) Sorry for repeating myself, but you'd better be able to PROVE you're carrying a flashlight or a wrench for a legitimate reason in many states where it is illegal to carry "the tools of a trade" that is criminal.
WV has a law that it's legal to beat your wife so long as it is done in public on Sunday, on the courthouse steps.
“Hey honey let’s go to WV on Sunday”. Wait. I’m the female… I didn’t think this through… 🙀
Load More Replies... In Finland it's illegal to mail order certain vitamins, you can even get a a fine for smuggling illegal substances for ordering the 5,000 IU Vitamin D capsules. Also bringing over 80% vodka in the country is illegal, but that's understandable as alcohol in that strength is basically poison.
Cannabis, a weed that grows in all 50 states, is illegal on a fedral level in the United States.
And Ms. Dominauskaitė is not a bad-looking woman,
Load More Replies... In Montana, it's illegal to leave a sheep in the cab of a running vehicle. In Cle Elum, WA (where they filmed Northern Exposure) it's illegal to ride an ugly horse in town. As I said before, it's illegal in Alaska to feed alcoholic drinks to a moose or to push a moose out of an airplane. Oh..and you can't wrestle bears in Missouri.
