Ten things banned in America which aren't guns

At least 22 people are dead and 60 are injured after a shooter opened fire at several locations in Lewiston, Maine on the evening of Wednesday 25 October.

A “person of interest” has been identified as 40-year-old Robert Card. A manhunt remains underway and police have warned the public that Card should be considered “armed and dangerous”.

It is believed to be the deadliest mass shooting in America since August 2019. Law enforcement has asked local Lewiston residents to shelter inside with the doors locked.

According to the BBC, some 40,000 deaths a year involve firearms in America, a figure that includes suicides. Despite this, US gun laws are pretty relaxed compared to other countries, making it all the more unusual that the country has had no issue banning a number of other things that, to us at least, seem far less harmful than guns.

Take these ten examples:

Honking your horn in front of a sandwich shop

In Little Rock, Arkansas, after 9pm, it is illegal to honk your car horn in front of a sandwich shop. Or any place where cold drinks are served. Obviously.

Sex toys

In Sandy Springs, Georgia, the law declares that “any device designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs is obscene material” and prohibited. In 2016, an attempt was made to appeal the ban but to no success. In Georgia, you need a license to carry a gun but anyone over 21 can have one in their homes.

Toy guns

In Kansas, minors are not allowed to buy toy guns. Last year, Kansas passed a bill to lower the legal age to carry a firearm from 21 to 18. Why not?

Brie

In a decision that has Big Brexit Energy, the US government passed a law in 2004 stating that any cheese aged under 60 days imported to or sold in the US must be made with pasteurized milk. This means many kinds of cheese including brie are banned.

High Heels

In Carmel, California, you need a permit to walk through the streets in heels over two inches high. How lovely of America to think about people’s safety.

Caviar

In 2005, the USA banned beluga caviar because of fears it is produced in an unsustainable way. In 2005, there were at least four mass shootings in America, including the Tacoma Mall shooting in which a gunman entered the mall and opened fire, injuring six.

Calling vegetarian substitutes ‘meat’

In several states in the US, it is illegal to label vegetarian burgers ‘burgers’ or ‘sausages’. In several states in the US, it is legal to carry a gun without a permit, and presumably, you can call it a burger or whatever the hell you want.

Sharing your Netflix password

Although this now applies to everyone Tennessee has had a law against sharing logins to your Netflix, iTunes, Spotify and other services, as of 2011. Harsh!

Nigella Lawson

In 2014, Nigella Lawson was stopped from boarding a British Airways flight to the states after she confessed to taking drugs The ban was later lifted in preparation for her show The Taste.

Skydiving while drunk

Ok, this one seems fair enough.

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.