The Volokh Conspiracy - A Crime To Possess Scissors at Mississippi Universities?

Check out this statute, which covers the property -- including dorms -- of any university (public or private) as well as K-12 schools:

(4) It shall be a misdemeanor for any person to possess or carry, whether openly or concealed, any BB gun, air rifle, air pistol, bowie knife, dirk, dagger, slingshot, leaded cane, switchblade knife, blackjack, metallic knuckles, razors and razor blades (except solely for personal shaving), and any sharp-pointed or edged instrument except instructional supplies, unaltered nail files and clips and tools used solely for preparation of food, instruction and maintenance on educational property. Any person violating this subsection shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or be imprisoned not exceeding six (6) months, or both.

Scissors that are "instructional supplies," or that are used solely for "instruction and maintenance," are excluded, but what about other scissors? Or anything else with a sharp point or an edge? Yow.

Related Posts (on one page):

South Carolina Law Requires Students To Go To School in the Nude:
A Crime To Possess Scissors at Mississippi Universities?

(link)

Leo Marvin (mail):

Scissors are infernal machines.

4.29.2009 5:04pm

Jim Manley (mail):

"any sharp-pointed ... instrument"

What about pens and pencils? I guess they take the adage about pens and swords seriously in Mississippi.

4.29.2009 5:10pm

Oren:

You are having way too much fun with this non-lethal weapons research paper!

4.29.2009 5:14pm

Gabriel McCall (mail):

The statute covers forks, since they are used for consuming food as well as preparing it. And don't bring your new dress shirt on campus before you take the pins out of it. But feel free to walk around with a pipe wrench or baseball bat. Or a harpoon launcher, for that matter.

4.29.2009 5:18pm

Mikeyes (mail):

Or sculptor's tools or woodworking tools or forks.

4.29.2009 5:19pm

Thoughtful (mail):

As a non-lawyer, I've always wondered: Do lawyers look at legislators who write things like this as idiots, or as fonts of endless streams of revenue?

PlugInMonster:

This is why we need to give everyone a netbook with soft stylus pen(that can't be used for stabbing). Make sure every corner is rounded with extra padding too.

No, most forks are only used for consuming food, not preparing it. I guess that you need the big ones used for salad. What about scalpels or other medical devices that cut?

4.29.2009 5:21pm

Adam J:

Thoughtful- depends on the lawyer

4.29.2009 5:23pm

Laura(southernxyl) (mail) (www):

My daughter currently resides in a dorm at a Mississippi university. Fortunately, she graduates May 9.

I told her that when she left high school she would experience culture shock in that she would be treated like a human being, finally. Glad she and I have been left in blissful ignorance for four years. I think I will continue to spare her.

4.29.2009 5:26pm

Icarus:

Where does your standard plastic three sided 30 - 60 - 90 degree angle template fall under this law. It certainly has a sharp point and could be used as a lethal weapon. If the device is made out of metal, its even worse. How about pens and pencils, and a thousand other things that students have with them - tool needed to do the job, but could also be used as lethal weapons?

I can see the students trig and geometry classes explaining to their teachers. I could not complete the classroom or homework assignment because I am not allowed to possess a lethal weapon.

Our 36th President, Lyndon B. Johnson said: You do not examine legislation in light of the benefits it will convey if properly administered, but in light of the wrongs it would do and the harms it would cause if improperly administered.

This legislation fails that test and appears to be another example of Hanlon’s Razor - Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.

When does the nightmare end on legislation without thought?

4.29.2009 5:41pm

ShelbyC:

It's to CYA. They may as well make a law that says, "it shall be unlawful to exist" and then only enforce it on folks who do things that they want to punish.

hattio1:

thoughtful asks

The answer is yes. Why do you assume it's an either/or question?

4.29.2009 5:45pm

einhverfr (mail) (www):

This also bans whittling a stick with a pocket knife.

Once you are whittling the stick, the pocket knife is now no longer used exclusively for the whitelisted activities. Also the stick develops a sharp point. Double-violation.

These are stupid laws which IMO are facially overbroad.

4.29.2009 5:53pm

Seamus (mail):

Our 36th President, Lyndon B. Johnson said: You do not examine legislation in light of the benefits it will convey if properly administered, but in light of the wrongs it would do and the harms it would cause if improperly administered.

LBJ actually said that? That sounds more like Ron Paul or Barry Goldwater. But if he really said it, I guess I can't hate on him as much as I want to.

4.29.2009 6:02pm

This also bans whittling a stick with a pocket knife.

Once you are whittling the stick, the pocket knife is now no longer used exclusively for the whitelisted activities. Also the stick develops a sharp point. Double-violation.

I understand that pointed sticks are outlawed, but what if your assailant comes after you with a banana?

4.29.2009 6:03pm

Dilan Esper (mail) (www):

Have you ever seen the scissors they give you in school? They are actually excluded under the "sharp pointed or edged instrument" language; you don't need to reach the issue of whether they are "instructional supplies".

4.29.2009 6:09pm

john w. (mail):

LBJ actually said that?

He very likely did say it at some point -- but he sure as Hell didn't mean it.

4.29.2009 6:16pm

whit:

Do lawyers look at legislators who write things like this as idiots, or as fonts of endless streams of revenue?

you mean legislators who usually ARE lawyers, yet write this crap?

i can off the top of my head think of several state statutes within my jurisdiction that are just horrendously written and/or almost certainly constitutional.

our cyberstalking law is a perfect example.

ime, the worst laws are written in quick response to some problem that needs to be addressed. more often than not, it's done "for the children"

4.29.2009 6:33pm

zippypinhead:

Odd list. While I'm sad I will have to leave my pointed sissors home, thank goodness I can at least bring my howitzer to college with me at Ol' Miss!

edit: should be "almost certainly UNconstitutional"

4.29.2009 6:34pm

Edward A. Hoffman (mail):

Icarus wrote:

Where does your standard plastic three sided 30 - 60 - 90 degree angle template fall under this law. It certainly has a sharp point and could be used as a lethal weapon. If the device is made out of metal, its even worse. How about pens and pencils, and a thousand other things that students have with them - tool needed to do the job, but could also be used as lethal weapons?

Evidently this statute bans weapons of math instruction.

4.29.2009 7:11pm

edward wins the thread!

4.29.2009 7:12pm

weapons of math instruction

It doesn't get any better than that.

4.29.2009 8:54pm

Anderson (mail):

Edward rules.

I will note only that Mississippi State students are allowed to carry scissors, so long as they also carry with them the user manual.

4.29.2009 9:44pm

NickM (mail) (www):

This brings to mind a joke.

What did the Ole Miss football player get on his SATs?

Drool.

Nick

4.29.2009 11:24pm

Azatoth:

Evidently this statute bans weapons of math instruction

especially when used by Mohammed al-Gebra

4.30.2009 9:31am

What about Occam's razor?

4.30.2009 9:32am

Uh_Clem (mail):

My sister works for DuPont as an administrative assistant. Scissors with points are bannned, and have been since at least the 70's. I kid her about that alot, how she has to make due with scissors with rounded points.

I guess the schools are finally catching up with industry here.

4.30.2009 10:56am

Edward Hoffman wrote:

After Alexandria fell to the Mohammedan Empire, the Neoplatonic Acadamy there actually moved to Bagdad. There is a lot of thinking that the development of Algebra and other mathematical disciplines by the Arabs were directly connected to this event.

Consequently we can say without a doubt that there is a historical and persistent link between weapons of math instruction and Iraq!

4.30.2009 1:02pm

LarryA (mail) (www):

Both.

I told her that when she left high school she would experience culture shock in that she would be treated like a human being, finally. Glad she and I have been left in blissful ignorance for four years. I think I will continue to spare her.

I've always found it interesting that we take high school dropouts, throw them at the fast-food industry, and treat them like adults; we take those who barely made it out of high school, send them off to trade school or the military, and treat them like adults; and take the best and brightest, send them off to college/grad school, and treat them like children for four to eight more years.

5.1.2009 1:38pm

Guest #88683:

The Mississippi law sounds like an almost verbatim copy of the North Carolina General Statutes, 14-269.2(e):

It shall be a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person to possess or carry, whether openly or concealed, any BB gun, stun gun, air rifle, air pistol, bowie knife, dirk, dagger, slungshot, leaded cane, switchblade knife, blackjack, metallic knuckles, razors and razor blades (except solely for personal shaving), firework, or any sharp‑pointed or edged instrument except instructional supplies, unaltered nail files and clips and tools used solely for preparation of food, instruction, and maintenance, on educational property.

The other paragraphs of 14.269-2 are similar as well.

5.1.2009 1:55pm

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