“What Is Suspicious To Own But Not Illegal?”: 30 People Share What Makes Them Feel Criminal

Standing in the checkout line at a home improvement store can get more interesting when you notice someone buying an “interesting” combination of goods. Yards and yards of rope, locks and duct tape, perhaps saws and garbage bags. Somehow, our brain starts to develop its own “fun '' little narratives.

Someone asked, “What is suspicious to own but not illegal?” and folks shared all the items that might make you feel like a true criminal. We also got in touch with the fabulously named TooGayToPayCash to learn why they decided to pose this question. So get comfortable as you read through these posts and be sure to upvote your favorites. If you have any examples of your own to share, feel free to comment below.

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“What Is Suspicious To Own But Not Illegal?”: 30 People Share What Makes Them Feel Criminal I got pulled over late at night and when the cop shined his light into the cargo area of my station wagon the most visible objects were a shovel, rope, gloves, and the giant tarp-wrapped bundle of yard refuse I was bringing to the town compost in the morning. Surely there was at least one roll of duct tape or gorilla tape back there. At least he had a sense of humor about it when he strolled up to my window: "So we're off to bury the body under the cover of night, huh?"

sightlab Report

Final score:

196points

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JuJu 1 year ago

"Need help? We could go for some fries after we're done."

74points

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Bored Panda got in touch with TooGayToPayCash who started the thread and they were kind enough to answer some of our questions. We wanted to know what prompted the initial inquiry. "I asked the question because I was on break at work with nothing to read so this question came to me."

"I think people engaged with the post so much because they were curious about what others would answer. When I first got off break and back to work, I only had about 12 comments on my post. I put on some videos on my phone to listen to while I worked and then I heard my phone dinging like crazy. I had to turn off the Reddit notifications because every comment would make my phone ding and interrupt the videos I was listening to, haha!"

“What Is Suspicious To Own But Not Illegal?”: 30 People Share What Makes Them Feel Criminal I was at home Depot with a shopping cart full of PVC stuff, and this cop standing in line behind me says "building a potato cannon, huh?".

I actually *was* building a potato cannon.

Conch-Republic Report

Final score:

176points

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PeeledPotato 1 year ago

he seen it before...

60points

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“What Is Suspicious To Own But Not Illegal?”: 30 People Share What Makes Them Feel Criminal I lost the key to my crawlspace's padlock once, and went to the hardware store to buy bolt cutters, so I could replace it. I told the cashier why I was buying them (without being asked) and he was like "it's funny, everyone that buys bolt-cutters feels like they need to tell me why they are buying them. I think they just want me to know they aren't about to do something illegal."

FackleGracks , Tekton Report

Final score:

171points

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M O'Connell 1 year ago

If that was your only reason for buying bolt cutters you should have bought an angle grinder instead. It's a bit more versatile for future applications.

51points

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Human minds love stories, but this is a double-edged sword (another thing that feels illegal to own,) as we start to construct narratives where they don’t even exist. Imagine the checkout section of your local grocery store. A person is getting flour, eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract. They must be baking something you think, despite the fact that you have no actual evidence.

This is an example of narrative fallacy, where we attribute cause and effect to separate events. Most fiction we consume follows certain narrative conventions. Indeed, a story where things simply “happen” with no rhyme or reason feels hollow, despite the fact that a lot can happen in our lives without our direct control or contribution.

“What Is Suspicious To Own But Not Illegal?”: 30 People Share What Makes Them Feel Criminal It’s not illegal to go to Walmart and buy trash bags, a saw and cleaning supplies at 2am but I’ve seen enough true crime stuff to say it is mighty suspicious.

Nippon-Gakki , Caique Morais Report

Final score:

128points

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StrangePenguin 1 year ago

i wanna try this with my buddies to see reactions.

34points

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“What Is Suspicious To Own But Not Illegal?”: 30 People Share What Makes Them Feel Criminal Lock picks

They're seen as thieves tools but lock picking isn't uncommon for a hobby

Prestigious_Water336 , Ariel Report

Final score:

101points

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Firefly1617 1 year ago

I remember seeing something on here about a lock picking youtube guy who people enjoyed. Apparently whenever he managed under a minute people would roast the lock like crazy in the comments

55points

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“What Is Suspicious To Own But Not Illegal?”: 30 People Share What Makes Them Feel Criminal For me water. My neighbors had well water and would dry up. They asked if they could run a hose and put it in there well they would pay what was owed. Did this alot last summer no big deal they paid. Then they bought a big above ground pool. Filled it for them they always paid my part was always around the same so I wasn't bent out of shape. One day the water meter guy knocked with an officer wanting to know why I was using so much water. I explained showed the many hoses to reach my neighbors and they were there to help explain. They explained to me that much water usage was throwing a red flag. So they were sent out to investigate to make sure no marijuana growing was happening.

Regractoolstu , Valentin Petkov Report

Final score:

98points

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David Paterson 1 year ago

Not marijuana. Excessive water usage brings up a red flag for leaks in the water pipeline. Good thing it does, too. I had an underground water leak and didn't know it. They gave me 50% off the excess water bill.

59points

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So fans of true crime (or fictional crime honestly,) will no doubt see a person buying, say, multiple padlocks and rope and think it’s suspicious. Even though this could simply be the administrator of multiple AirBnBs who also needed some rope and didn’t want to make two trips to the hardware store.

“What Is Suspicious To Own But Not Illegal?”: 30 People Share What Makes Them Feel Criminal A closet grow tent for... tomatoes.

wolfgang187 , Karolina Kołodziejczak Report

Final score:

96points

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Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! 1 year ago

I love tomatoes.

24points

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“What Is Suspicious To Own But Not Illegal?”: 30 People Share What Makes Them Feel Criminal "(...)You need at least sixteen pigs to finish the job in one sitting, so be wary of any man who keeps a pig farm."

love-boobs-in-dm , Amber Kipp Report

Final score:

83points

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Nacho Man Sandy Ravage 1 year ago

It's part of a quote from the movie Snatch....."You need at least sixteen pigs to finish the job in one sitting, so be wary of any man who keeps a pig farm. They will go through a body that weighs 200 pounds in about eight minutes. That means that a single pig can consume two pounds of uncooked flesh every minute. Hence the expression, "as greedy as a pig"

68points

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I had all my baby teeth saved in a little container at one point, as an adult. Just never threw them away. I got rid of them when I watched the season of Dexter where there is a serial k**ler who kept a collection of his victim's teeth and it made me think "yeah this could look weird."

HashDefTrueFalse Report

Final score:

76points

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BlindAres 1 year ago

You think?

19points

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This is a common human problem, while, theoretically, we understand that we never have perfect information, psychologists believe that all too often we act as if our data is comprehensive. Since this is realistically never true, it’s easy to see just how often we might misanalyze an issue just because we see connections that don’t exist.

#10

“What Is Suspicious To Own But Not Illegal?”: 30 People Share What Makes Them Feel Criminal Multiple pad locks on your basement door.

SprinklesMore8471 , Anita Jankovic Report

Final score:

75points

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BlindAres 1 year ago

There actually could be very valid safety reasons to padlock the basement. For example, dangerous tools/machinery that your children absolutely must stay away from until an appropriate age (think like table saw, massive table drill, lathe, massive power sander, etc...)

37points

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#11

“What Is Suspicious To Own But Not Illegal?”: 30 People Share What Makes Them Feel Criminal Loads of money in cash

Bataguki , Pixabay Report

Final score:

74points

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BlindAres 1 year ago

Be careful carrying huge amounts of cash around the USA. Unfortunately, property confiscation without a crime is an actual thing.

13points

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#12

“What Is Suspicious To Own But Not Illegal?”: 30 People Share What Makes Them Feel Criminal I got stopped and questioned at airport security because of my jewellery scales and grinder.. until I showed them my coffee beans and Aeropress.

TripleDistance , Nathan Dumlao Report

Final score:

73points

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Buggy Dragon she/her 1 year ago

So that's how you sneak it past airport security

31points

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Let’s face it, we often create false narratives about our own life stories, diminishing our faults, misattributing blame, and finding connections that don’t exist. This, naturally, raises the question, if we can’t actually make good conclusions about our own lives, how exactly do we make sweeping generalizations about others?

#13

“What Is Suspicious To Own But Not Illegal?”: 30 People Share What Makes Them Feel Criminal An old beat up van with, "Free candy" painted on the side.

Tobutch , Wikicommons Report

Final score:

70points

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BlindAres 1 year ago

Don't do that around here. Very angry parents, at the very least, will ensure that van is completely inoperable.

39points

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#14

“What Is Suspicious To Own But Not Illegal?”: 30 People Share What Makes Them Feel Criminal A tank. Most states don't prohibit you owning one because it's just something you don't expect someone to have... but I'd find it really suspicious if one was parked in my neighbors driveway

mcknightrider , Kevin Schmid Report

Final score:

65points

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BlindAres 1 year ago

To be fair, with the right federal certifications, they are legal to own in my state. That said, they are completely illegal to drive on any public road/highway. Also of important note, they are not cheap. Someone owning a tank is wealthy. Buying it, maintaining it and fueling it is prohibitively expensive af

33points

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#15

“What Is Suspicious To Own But Not Illegal?”: 30 People Share What Makes Them Feel Criminal A "ritual" dagger, as he described it. My one college roommate had one displayed and would occasionally need the room to himself. I opted for a place where I had my own room next year.

TheSexyMicrowave , Anis Rahman Report

Final score:

61points

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Ranger Kanootsen 1 year ago

I have one of these too. It's really pretty!

13points

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At the end of the day, one just has to make peace with the fact that most of our brains are building stories all the time. One just has to keep on living. If you want to read more people’s thoughts on things that don’t feel right or even legal but still are, check out Bored Panda’s two previous articles on the topic.

#16

“What Is Suspicious To Own But Not Illegal?”: 30 People Share What Makes Them Feel Criminal 3 phones

indepen-variable , Iurii Laimin Report

Final score:

60points

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Poison Ivy/Boo 1 year ago

I have 2 and I feel like I'm doing something I'm not lol.

27points

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#17

“What Is Suspicious To Own But Not Illegal?”: 30 People Share What Makes Them Feel Criminal A flamethrower.

Casca_In_Red , Tali Despins Report

Final score:

59points

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Vivian 1 year ago

it's illegal to build them tho

16points

Steve Hall 1 year ago

In the United States, flamethrowers are federally unregulated tools and are not considered a firearm by the ATF. No need for any NFA tax stamps, licensing, or even an FFL dealer.

6points

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Scp_049 1 year ago

I happen to live in the one state in the US where it is illegal to have one.

7points

Pan Narrans 1 year ago

No no no, that is a de-icer. Fully legal for use on your driveway.

5points

Ent Hugger 1 year ago

my brother-in-law has one... not gonna lie, it's pretty boss :)

5points

The Fool 1 year ago

Spaceballs the Flame Thrower, the kids love this one!

4points

BlindAres 1 year ago

These have valid uses on farms and forestry

4points

Gustav Gallifrey 1 year ago

In Brisbane, the old cruise ship terminal had a sign listing items that could not be taken aboard. It included 'flamethrowers of military design'. I was always itching to ask if civilian/self-designed fire projectors were ok, but security people have no sense of humour.

3points

Huddo's sister 1 year ago

They are illegal in Australia, because farmers etc would use them to do 'burn offs' but not listen to the authorities about when the weather conditions are okay to do it.

1point

Heather Talma 1 year ago

There was a guy in my hometown who was arrested for using a flamethrower to clear snow.

1point

KittyMommy 11 months ago

Minnesota? I was thinking about him too while I was reading this

0points

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Janet Graham 1 year ago

Farmer's get away with building, owning, and using these. That is how we burn ditches and weeds and stuff!

1point

Thatkamloopsguy 1 year ago

Weed control.

1point

Claire Smith 12 months ago

im not allowed to have anything with fire but as i'll always say to myself: not all pyromaniacs are arsonists

0points

Alpacas_Are_Life 1 year ago

Nothing to see here... just out killing weeds

0points

mSpencer 1 year ago

I still want one

0points

Tameeza Joyce Lightowler 1 year ago

In a city centre? Probably Very Highly Illegal!!!

0points

David Paterson 1 year ago

In my country there are legal limitations. Only to be used as a weapon, as an aid to fighting bushfires, or in the entertainment industry. Not as a regular farm tool or for brush clearance.

0points

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#18

“What Is Suspicious To Own But Not Illegal?”: 30 People Share What Makes Them Feel Criminal a collection of other peoples' hair