Throwing Snowballs Is Against The Law In Kansas

TOPEKA, Kan. -- Not only did Mayor Bill Bunten miss a tree while throwing a snowball at it, he also violated a city ordinance.

Kristen Aberle, of Thawville, Ill., wrote to Bunten after the little-known Topeka ordinance was pointed out as a "Dumb Law" in her government class.

"I thought somebody was pulling my leg," the mayor said. "But I checked, and she's actually right."

Bunten admitted his fastball missed the tree by about 30 feet, but he said that didn't make his crime any less serious.

"After I write to you, I am going to the police station and report myself and throw myself on the mercy of the court," Bunten said in a letter dated Dec. 27. "After that, I'm going to have an ordinance drawn up to repeal this Dumb Law lest our already-crowded prisons are filled up with children who, while making a snowman, got carried away and had a snowball fight."

Violators could be fined up to $499 and jailed for 179 days for breaking the rule, which also prohibits stones and "other missiles."

Bunten said he asked the city's attorney "to draw up an ordinance to delete that part of it about snowballs." REUTERS