Sunday, October 02, 2005

Bicycles, BBs, and Halloween

Here are some more of my views on some Selma ordinances.

Sec. 12-6. Bicycles on sidewalks.
No person shall ride a bicycle on any sidewalk of the town.


I never see that one enforced. Just sit on my front steps and watch.

Sec. 13-4. Air rifles prohibited.
Any person using an air rifle in the town shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.


Why should I be guilty of a misdemeanor if I want to set up a small target and trap in my driveway and shoot my Daisy Red Rider that I have had since I was about ten years old? An air rifle???? Come on, now. If I am not hurting anyone else's property, using it to vandalize, hurt, etc., who cares? If I need to scare a menacing dog off my property, I should be able to hit him with my BB gun without fear of being charged with a misdemeanor.

Sec. 13-9. Trick or treat visitations.
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to appear on or in any public street or alley of the town or upon any property than his own premises for the purpose of making trick or treat visitations, except as provided in subsection (b) of this section.
(b) Subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to children twelve (12) years of age and under before the hour of 8:00 p.m. on each Halloween night in the residential areas of the town.


As much as I am at odds theologically with the concept of Halloween, restricting the age to under 12 and the hour to before 8 PM is a bit much. In the dying words of William Wallace, at least according to Mel Gibson in the movie "Braveheart", "FREEDOM!!!"

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