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As good people we automatically follow most laws as they are there to keep us and others safe whether we are aware of it or not. We consider our duty to obey the rules and for the most part we avoid breaking the ones that would get us in serious trouble.

But the book of law is very long and every country or state or even region can have different things written in it so we may break the law only because we didn’t read about it. But ignorance doesn’t exempt us from responsibility so let’s find out some.

Reddit user EvilPilotFish asked people “What is surprisingly illegal?” after finding out that credit card fees are illegal in many states but gas stations still do that and others shared what’s a funny or weird law they know about in the place they live in.

More info: Reddit

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#1

22 Things You May Not Think Of Doing But If You Did, You Would Be Committing A Crime, As Shared In This Online Group It is forbidden to own a single Guinea pig in Switzerland. You must have two.

math-yoo , David Report

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String cheese muppet
String cheese muppet
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That’s such an adorable law. But imagine politicians sitting around a table and discussing this.

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#2

22 Things You May Not Think Of Doing But If You Did, You Would Be Committing A Crime, As Shared In This Online Group In Germany it's legal to break out of prison - but not in your prison uniform, because that would be stealing.

Limp-Sundae5177 , Molly Haggerty Report

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Gremlan jonnson
Gremlan jonnson
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

All this means is that you don't get time added on your original sentence if youescape, you will still be put back in prison when caught

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#3

22 Things You May Not Think Of Doing But If You Did, You Would Be Committing A Crime, As Shared In This Online Group In China, it's illegal to reincarnate without the government's permission.

JalenNico , Julie Markee Report

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#4

22 Things You May Not Think Of Doing But If You Did, You Would Be Committing A Crime, As Shared In This Online Group In the landlocked state of Nebraska, it is illegal to go whaling.

SonOfSkinDealer , David Stanley Report

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#5

22 Things You May Not Think Of Doing But If You Did, You Would Be Committing A Crime, As Shared In This Online Group You can't put a donkey Ina bathtub in my state

obi-juan-kenobi_66 , Tim Green Report

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$cagsy
$cagsy
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2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sorry officer, I was just washing my a$$.

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#6

22 Things You May Not Think Of Doing But If You Did, You Would Be Committing A Crime, As Shared In This Online Group here’s some odd laws from my state of Pennsylvania:

• in Ridley Park, You are not allowed to walk backwards while eating peanuts in front of Barnstormers Auditorium while a performance is taking place

• It’s illegal to sing while in a bathtub

• If you live in Morrisville and you’re a woman, you’ve got to have a permit to wear makeup

• It’s illegal to sleep on top of a refrigerator outside

• if you have a d**k and you’re in Allentown, don’t even think about getting aroused in public. tell your little buddy to stay down until y’all get home

• Fortune Telling is illegal

• If you’ve been in a duel, I hope you don’t have plans to run for Governor, because you won’t be able to.

• Dynamite is not to be used to catch fish

here’s a fun one..

• Ex-felons aren’t allowed to operate a Bingo game

insomniacakess , Jennifer C. Report

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#7

22 Things You May Not Think Of Doing But If You Did, You Would Be Committing A Crime, As Shared In This Online Group In the most southern island of the Caribbean, Trinidad, and Tobago, it's illegal to curse publicly

15Blins , Didier BIGAND Report

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The Doom Song
The Doom Song
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wow, you guys would make so much money out of us Australians!!! We can barely string a sentence together without dropping the f bomb or the c bomb

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#8

22 Things You May Not Think Of Doing But If You Did, You Would Be Committing A Crime, As Shared In This Online Group If in Western Australia, possessing more than 50kg of potatoes.

Yep, you read that correctly. Potatoes.

Eldaas , Renoir Gaither Report

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#9

22 Things You May Not Think Of Doing But If You Did, You Would Be Committing A Crime, As Shared In This Online Group In my country, not having at least one bidet installed per home.

EDIT since many keep asking: the country is Italy.

maseioavessiprevisto , Phil Kates Report

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#10

22 Things You May Not Think Of Doing But If You Did, You Would Be Committing A Crime, As Shared In This Online Group It’s now illegal to buy canned whipped cream under 21 years of age here in my state.

18- fight for your country and possibly die? Yes!
Under 21- want whipped cream on your ice cream, pie? Oh well bye rocko.

Intelligent-Jelly419 , dogs & music Report

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CalicoKitty
CalicoKitty
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's to stop you huffing the aerosol. Not that it makes the age comparison any better...

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#11

22 Things You May Not Think Of Doing But If You Did, You Would Be Committing A Crime, As Shared In This Online Group Umm…a woman in Saudi Arabia just got sentenced to 34 years prison because of a mild tweet statement about current political situation in her country. So, political opinion is hugely illegal there.

anon , World's Direction Report

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$cagsy
$cagsy
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Why does it appear that the world doesn't care about the plight of women in Arab nations? Ukraine gets invaded by Russia and the world (rightly) sends weapons and aid. A woman leaves the house in Saudi and her hijab isn't on straight, 10 years in prison. It's absolutely scandalous the way the world just keeps on looking the other way. This must stop. There is no place for it in a civilised world.

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#12

22 Things You May Not Think Of Doing But If You Did, You Would Be Committing A Crime, As Shared In This Online Group Being homeless.

C1ashRkr , James Abbott Report

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Federico Guerrero-Isaza
Federico Guerrero-Isaza
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"How should we fix homelessness?" "hmmm... I know! make it illegal!" "But sir-" "Make. It. Illegal."

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#13

22 Things You May Not Think Of Doing But If You Did, You Would Be Committing A Crime, As Shared In This Online Group Alarming the Queen.

Section 49 of the Criminal Code of Canada. Sentence of up to 14 years in prison.

ScamboOfDoom , Governor-General of New Zealand Report

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CalicoKitty
CalicoKitty
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Pity the person who sets her clock to go off in the morning /j

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#14

22 Things You May Not Think Of Doing But If You Did, You Would Be Committing A Crime, As Shared In This Online Group I ask this because I read today that credit card fees are illegal in many states, including mine, but that doesn’t stop many gas stations around me.

EvilPilotFish , 401(K) 2012 Report

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Toby
Toby
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not usually illegal, but they do breach the merchant's contract with the credit card company which says they're not allowed to differentiate between payment methods.

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#15

22 Things You May Not Think Of Doing But If You Did, You Would Be Committing A Crime, As Shared In This Online Group Entering the English parliament with a suit of armor for some reason

__-d-__ , UK Parliament Report

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Vix Spiderthrust
Vix Spiderthrust
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Same reason the front benches are more than two sword lengths apart.

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#16

22 Things You May Not Think Of Doing But If You Did, You Would Be Committing A Crime, As Shared In This Online Group In several states, it's illegal to fish from horseback

Just google stupid fishing laws....there are lots of them.

SnootchieBootichies , k.steudel Report

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Jyri Hakola
Jyri Hakola
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's nice to hear about strange laws. BUT because most likely there are always some curious story behind most of these laws, it would be way more merrier to hear those stories...

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#17

22 Things You May Not Think Of Doing But If You Did, You Would Be Committing A Crime, As Shared In This Online Group In my small home town spitting on the ground. (Was originally used when men chewed tobacco and the spit would stain the sidewalks), not enforced anymore.

squirebythefire , Hitchster Report

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#18

22 Things You May Not Think Of Doing But If You Did, You Would Be Committing A Crime, As Shared In This Online Group Children selling lemonade without a license.

SuvenPan , David Russo Report

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BluEyedSeoulite
BluEyedSeoulite
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This blew up several years ago when a sweet girl was trying to sell water on the sidewalk. A Karen made a big deal about it. The girl was selling water to earn money for a trip to Disney world. She got her trip!

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#19

22 Things You May Not Think Of Doing But If You Did, You Would Be Committing A Crime, As Shared In This Online Group You can’t legally collect rainwater in some states, even though it falls on your private property

bellagoat , Jan Tik Report

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BluEyedSeoulite
BluEyedSeoulite
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I had to look it up. According to a Washington Post article "In the West, water belongs to someone The principle at stake is called prior appropriation, which is legalese for “first come, first served.” This doctrine forms the bedrock of water law in the Western states, where long ago settlers raced to gobble up all the water rights. Prior appropriation helps explain why water-intensive agriculture is still a major industry in a place as arid as the West: Many of the early claimants were farmers seeking to irrigate their crops. Story continues below advertisement These days, with drought parching the region, there’s hardly enough water to go around. According to the law, the people who get first dibs are the ones who called it first, which tend to be the agricultural users and not the city dwellers. In Colorado, other people’s water rights even extend to the raindrops that fall onto your roof. Why? Because those raindrops might tumble into the gutter; they might seep into the ground; might, in some other eventual, serpentine fashion, find their way to a river where somebody’s great-great-grandfather once established a claim. Legal experts have long criticized the Wild West principle of prior appropriation. They say that the tradition of dibsies is incongruent with the way that people demand water in the 21st century"

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#20

22 Things You May Not Think Of Doing But If You Did, You Would Be Committing A Crime, As Shared In This Online Group Selling cars directly to consumers. The government, working for the people as always, made it illegal to not use a car dealership.

scottevil110 , Manoj Prasad Report

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#21

22 Things You May Not Think Of Doing But If You Did, You Would Be Committing A Crime, As Shared In This Online Group A few of my favorites from when I used to look this s**t up years ago:

* In Boise, Idaho you may not fish from a camel or giraffe's back
* Hunting camels is illegal in Arizona
* Also in Logan, Utah, if a married woman commits a crime in her husband's presence, he is legally responsible.
* Once again in Utah, it is illegal to cause a catastrophe.

TheNecromancress , Neptunecloud Report

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#22

22 Things You May Not Think Of Doing But If You Did, You Would Be Committing A Crime, As Shared In This Online Group In Australia (edit: except for New South Wales), it is illegal to use your mobile phone to pay at a drive-thru of a fast-food venue (KFC, McDonalds, Red Rooster, etc.); unless you apply the handbrake and switch the engine off BEFORE you touch your phone. If caught, the penalties are fines worth hundreds of dolars, plus a few demerit points on your licence; which the amount of both varies from state to state.

A lot of Aussie drivers only found out about this in 2019, after Victoria Police responded to a Facebook poll that they had put up asking the following question “When using a fast-food outlet’s drive-thru service, can I use my phone to pay?” in which out of the 51,000 people that voted, 65% said "Yes".

CodyTheHouso , Mike Mozart Report

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James016
James016
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I suppose it comes under the not using the phone while driving law

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