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Last week, eight people were killed and many others injured when a gunman opened fire at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis, before killing himself.
The shooting is one of more than 130 shootings that have occurred in the country in 2021. According to data published by CNN, the US had had at least 45 mass shootings – considered to be an incident in which four or more people are shot, wounded, or killed, excluding the gunman – since March 16, when eight people were killed at three spas in the Atlanta area.
Yet, in February this year, the state of Indiana voted to eliminate the license needed to carry a handgun.
And while president Joe Biden announced steps to tighten gun controls last week, including bolstering background checks and supporting local violence prevention, American zeal around the Second Amendment renders a full-scale ban unlikely.
But the land of the free is happy to step in and curb the use of other items when they see fit. Here are some things that are banned in the US, that aren’t guns:
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Honking your horn in front of a sandwich shop
In Little Rock, Arkansas, after 9pm, it is illegal to honk your car horn in front of a sandwich shop. Or any place where cold drinks are served. Obviously.
Sex toys
In Sandy Springs, Georgia, the law declares that “any device designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs is obscene material” and prohibited. In 2016, an attempt was made to appeal the ban but to no success. In Georgia, you need a license to carry a gun but anyone over 21 can have one in their homes.
Toy guns
In Kansas, minors are not allowed to buy toy guns. Last month, Kansas passed a bill to lower the legal age to carry a firearm from 21 to 18. Why not?
Brie
In a decision that has Big Brexit Energy, the US government passed a law in 2004 stating that any cheese aged under 60 days imported to or sold in the US must be made with pasteurized milk. This means many kinds of cheese including brie are banned.
High Heels
In Carmel, California, you need a permit to walk through the streets in heels over two inches high. How lovely of America to think about people’s safety.
Caviar
In 2005, the USA banned beluga caviar because of fears it is produced in an unsustainable way. In 2005, there were at least four mass shootings in America, including the Tacoma Mall shooting in which a gunman entered the mall and opened fire, injuring six.
Calling vegetarian substitutes ‘meat’
In several states in the US, it is illegal to label vegetarian burgers ‘burgers’ or ‘sausages’. In several states in the US, it is legal to carry a gun without a permit, and presumably, you can call it a burger or whatever the hell you want.
Sharing your Netflix password
In Tennessee, you cannot share logins to your Netflix, iTunes, Spotify and other services, as of 2011. Last week, two shootings occurred in Knoxville, Tennessee, on the very same day.
Nigella Lawson
In 2014, Nigella Lawson was stopped from boarding a British Airways flight to the states after she confessed to taking drugs The ban was later lifted in preparation for her show The Taste.
Skydiving while drunk
Ok, this one seems fair enough.
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