A new calandar year means a new spate of stupid-ass laws. Over the next few weeks, we’ll take a virtual tour of the country’s pettiest, silliest, most intrusive, God-awfullest legislation set for either a vote, or set to take effect this month.

We’ll start in New Hampshire:

Remote control toy boats may soon be required to obey the same speed limits as lifesize watercraft. Bonus points to the lawmaker who introduced this one for invoking “the children” in urging its enactment.

Another bill would make the pumpkin the state’s official fruit. Bonus points here because the lawmaker got the idea from a child.

One bill would make slavery a state crime in Massachusetts. Thank goodness!

Another bill would ban “Internet hunting,” where “hunters link their computers to remotely controlled guns. The ranch would attract deer or other wildlife to the area and, for a fee, hunters could shoot them by clicking a mouse.”

Rep. Richard Morris of Seabrook wants to require elementary schools to teach proverbs.

Rep. Clifford Newton of Rochester wants judges to be able to suspend your driver’s license if you get caught littering and fail to pay the fine.

Rep. Lars Christiansen of Hudson wants to set minimum ages for babysitters and charge parents with child endangerment if they hire underage babysitters.

Rep. Peter Schmidt of Dover proposes that New Hampshire set clocks ahead by two hours for daylight savings time instead of just one.

Live free or die, New Hampshire!

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 12th, 2006 at 6:11 pm by Radley Balko and is filed under There Oughtta Be a Law, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.