7 strange laws still on the books in New Jersey

Rumor has it it's illegal to photograph a rabbit in Wyoming between January and April. Falling asleep with your shoes on in North Dakota is illegal. Wearing a fake mustache in church that causes laughter is against the law in Alabama. You really have to wonder what specific crazy incidents happened that led to some of these bizarre (and obviously unenforced) laws in the first place.

Jersey is not immune. According to OnlyInYourState.com, New Jersey has had some very specific and very stupid laws on the books. Here are my seven favorite.

1) In Cresskill, a law was passed that says cat owners had to put bells on their collars at all times if they were outdoor cats. Why? To give birds a fighting chance and let them know the cat was coming.

2) In Bernards Township, don't be caught frowning in public. It was made illegal there. I bet this was started as some stupid, toothless resolution to add to the quality of life.

3) Sure, it is illegal to murder someone in New Jersey. But did you know there's a law against wearing a bullet proof vest while committing murder? So if the murder charges themselves don't scare you from doing the crime, maybe that additional penalty for Kevlar will make you think twice.

4) A man knitting during fishing season is not allowed here. If you want to be a man, fish. If you want to knit, wait for knitting season.

5) Detaining or delaying a homing pigeon is serious business. It's illegal. You could go to jail for that. My guess is this was grouped in with some obscure law on interfering with other more normal forms of communication.

6) It is illegal for an automobile to overtake a horse drawn carriage. Okay, what if the horse drawn carriage won't get out of the damn left lane? Can you at least pass him on the right?

7) Slurping your soup is not only annoying in the Dirty Jerz. It's also illegal.

I could have made this list longer by including it being illegal to pump your own gas and it being illegal for car dealerships to be open on Sundays, but why start war?

— Jeff Deminski

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