Eight things banned in America that aren’t guns

This is a country where you can buy an AR15 assault rifle without any background checks and where a nine-year-old girl just accidentally shot and killed her gun instructor as he taught her how to use an Uzi.

Kinder Eggs

While the rest of the world enjoys the sweet chocolatey taste of a Kinder Surprise - America’s no-fun Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has banned them on the basis that the toys inside the eggs could be a choking hazard.

Haggis

Continuing on their no-fun theme, the FDA has also banned Haggis imports. Americans can make their own but the US won’t let any food into the country which contains sheep lung.

Shark fins

Shark fins, a traditional Chinese delicacy, have been banned in California since 2011. Once their fins have been removed sharks are often put back in the ocean where they are likely to drown because of their restricted movement.

Nigella Lawson

Nigella Lawson was stopped from boarding a British Airways flight to America this April after she publicly confessed to taking drugs.

Nipples

This poster for Sin City 2 featuring Eva Green was reportedly banned in the US for being too provocative.

Dictionaries

The Merriam-Webster 10th edition was removed from classrooms in southern California in 2010 following a parent’s complaint that children could read the definition of the term “oral sex”.

Lengthy bingo games

In North Carolina bingo games are not allowed to last more than five hours unless they are held in a fair.

The ice bucket challenge

The US state department has banned its diplomats from doing the ice bucket challenge, in support of research into Motor Neurone Disease (known as ALS in America). State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf told the Telegraph that people in public offices such as ambassadors could not use them for private gain "no matter how worthy the cause is".

More: Nine-year-old shoots, kills gun instructor with Uzi