Dumb Laws

You've all heard of some of the 'Dumb Laws' that are on the books.
Well, here's North Carolina's (some of them anyway):

North Carolina

• A recent proposal that ministers walk the beat with police officers in Belmont, N.C., notes "the ministers will carry a Bible instead of a gun."
• An ordinance proposed in Robbins, N.C., states, "In the future, anyone not living within the immediate vicinity of Robbins must have a permit from the Chief of Police and okayed by the Mayor or one of the Commissioners." It's not clear what the permit is for, but they may be on to something.
• In Robbins, N.C., anyone who refuses to black out after hearing the blackout signal is subject to a $5 fine.
• A marriage can be declared void if either of the two persons is physically impotent.
• All couples staying overnight in a hotel must have a room with double beds that are at least two feet apart. Making love in the space between the beds is strictly forbidden.
• Barber: Fights between cats and dogs are prohibited.
• By town law the sewer service charge in Belhaven, N.C., used to be "$2 per month, per stool." It was recently changed to read "per toilet."
• Because people were using them for cheap furniture, it's now illegal in North Carolina to take and sell labeled milk crates.
• Chapel Hill: It is a misdemeanor to urinate or defecate publicly.
• Charlotte: Women must have their bodies covered by at least 16 yards of cloth at all times.
• Elephants may not be used to plow cotton fields.
• Fights between cats and dogs are prohibited.
• Forest City: You must stop and call City Hall before entering town in an automobile. This is so the townspeople will have time to go out and hold their horses until you get through town.
• Greensboro: Restaurants "with on sidewalk dining" must post their menu so that it is clearly readable from the sidewalk, but is not readable from the street.
• Hornytown: Massage parlors have been banned.
• In Asheville, North Carolina, it is illegal to sneeze on city streets.
• In Raleigh, North Carolina, before a man asks for a woman's hand in marriage, he must be "inspected by all the barnyard animals on the young woman's family's property, to ensure a harmonious farm life."
• If a man and a woman who aren't married go to a hotel/motel and register themselves as married then, according to state law, they are legally married.
• If you happen to own a marl bed in North Carolina, the law demands that you put a fence around it. A marl bed may not be what you think. It is a kind of rock quarry.
• In Forest City, N.C., it's illegal to bring a pea-shooter to a parade. It's also illegal to shoot paper clips with rubber bands.
• In Mooresville, N.C., it's illegal to attach anything to a pool table.
• In Nags Headm North Carolina you can be fined for singing out of tune for more than ninety seconds.
• In Rockwell, N.C., anyone who violates the terms of a proclamation--such as failing to appropriately celebrate Peanut Day or Jaycees Week--is guilty of a misdemeanor.
• North Carolina just passed a law saying a political action committee, or PAC, has to have a name that describes the group's cause or purpose. The idea is to prohibit, say, the highway or tobacco lobbies from calling themselves "Citizens for Good Government."
• In North Carolina it's illegal to dig ginseng on other people's property between the months of April and September, according to an 1866 law.
• In North Carolina it's illegal to sell cotton lint at night.
• In North Carolina it is illegal to make love on the floor of a hotel room between two double beds.
• In Winston-Salem, North Carolina, it is against the law for children under seven years of age to go to college.
• It is against the law to roller blade on a state highway.
• It is illegal to have sex in a churchyard.
• It's against the law to sing off key.
• It's unlawful to attract a crowd in Forest City, N.C., except when aching the Gospel, politicking or "serenading on occasion of public rejoicing."
• Kill Devil Hills: You may not ride a bicycle without having both your hands on the handle bars.
• Making love in the space between the beds is strictly forbidden.
• North Carolina forbids sex outside of marriage, or "fornication," but the girlfriend as well as the man would have to be prosecuted.
• Oral sex is considered a crime against nature.
• Punching an official at a youth sports program in Nashville, N.C., incurs a three-year suspension from the program for adult spectators as well as participants.
• Rocky Mount: It is required that you must pay a property tax on your dog.
• Southern Shores: It is against the law to roller-blade on a state highway.
• Thomasville, North Carolina, prohibits airplanes from flying over the town on Sundays during the hours between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
• The good people of Tryon, N.C., are serious about getting a good night's sleep. It's against the law for anyone to keep "fowl that shall cackle," or for anyone to play the piccolo between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7:30 a.m.
• While having sex, you must stay in the missionary position and have the shades pulled.
• You can't sneeze on the streets of Asheville, North Carolina.
• You may not ride a bicycle without having both your hands on the handle bars.
• There is to be no roller-blading during daylight hours, on the roads, or on the bricks.