This fire is still the largest in Georgia history, and several new ones have broken out. However, since the fire is about 70% contained (apologies for the lack of pictures, I promise you'll get some soon!) and the main objective now is to try to keep the fire from jumping Highway US 1 and entering populated areas (hurray us...), I thought I'd break up the monotony a little.
Following is a list I've collected of some very odd Georgia laws. Granted, some (if not most) of these were taken off the books generations ago, but they're still high on the chuckle-scale!
Strange Georgia Laws:
All males in the state between the ages of 16 and 50 are required to work on public roads.
It is illegal for a barber to advertise his prices.
It is illegal to change the clothes on a storefront mannequin unless the shades are down.
It is illegal to use profanity in front of a dead body which lies in a funeral home or in a coroners office.
Members of the state assembly cannot be ticketed for speeding while the state assembly is in session.
Donkeys may not be kept in bathtubs.
No one may carry an ice cream cone in their back pocket if it is Sunday.
Georgia law provides that it is a misdemeanor for any citizen to attend church worship on Sunday unless he is equipped with a rifle and it is loaded.
Flying the confederate flag is outlawed on government property, except in South Carolina and Georgia, where it is required to be flown.
In Georgia, it is against the law to slap a man on the back or front.
In Georgia, it's against the law to spread a false rumor. [I'll bet I can think of plenty of repeat offenders for this one...]
In Georgia, by state law you cannot keep any native species of lizard or snake as a pet, with one exception--venomous ones are legal. You can keep a six-foot diamondback rattlesnake in your bedroom, but don't get caught with a garter snake.
In Georgia, it's illegal to teach a child under 5 the words "penis" and "vagina." [So the proper way to teach a child is through "baby talk" and words like "weewee?!"]
In January, Georgia’s devout governor, Sonny Perdue, ignored religion as the reason he supports the state’s Sunday no-beer-sales law (and religion would be a constitutionally impermissible basis for the law, anyway). Rather, Perdue said, the real beauty of the Sunday law is merely to force Georgians to manage their time better, by getting everyone to finish their shopping for spirits by Saturday.
Atlanta - It is illegal to tie giraffes to street lamps.
In Columbus, it is illegal to sit on one's porch in an indecent position.
Conyers - an ordinance was passed that prohibits saying the phrase
"two fried eggs and a fritter for a quarter" in an attempt to prohibit
slang talkin'.
Jonesboro - It is illegal to say "Oh, boy."
Kennesaw, population 30,000 (up from 5,000 in 1982), has a law stating that owning a gun is mandatory. The town north of Atlanta passed a gun ordinance in 1982 that required all heads of household to own a firearm and ammunition.
In Quitman, it is illegal for a chicken to cross the road.
And did you know:
It is illegal to purchase or possess marital aides (vibrators, dildos, etc.) in Georgia. [In 1968 a Fulton-county resident was convicted under this law. This is despite the fact that the Fulton-County jury publicly stated that the law was "archaic" and noted such gadgets can have therapeutic value.--Source: Chitwood, Tim. "Toying With Issues". Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. 16 Oct. 2002. -- Also: As recently as 1990, these states had laws against the use of dildos: Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Washington D.C.]
Sodomy laws have been repealed—or are ignored—in most states, but not Georgia, where a man was sentenced to five years in prison for engaging in oral sex. With his wife. With her consent. In their home.
Georgia wildfire fire laws strange odd funny humor
