Free Thought Project – by Jack Burns
In a move which might seem asinine to some, several Wisconsin cities have completely banned throwing snowballs in public. One of those cities, Wausau, WI stated residents who throw snowballs on public roads, streets, sidewalks, and public property will be cited and face a penalty of a monetary fine if they wad up the icy substance and throw it.
Yes, that’s right America. The ever-increasing all powerful police state in America has determined that individuals are not capable of deciding for themselves whether or not it’s appropriate to throw snow balls at each other. Instead, the elected city officials have governed the freedom to engage in a snowball fight out of existence. Government apologists will likely contend the measure must be the result of one individual’s decision to abuse his/her snowball fighting freedom. Others will say throwing snowballs is a violent act and violence cannot be tolerated.
According to Newsweek magazine:
Wausau Officer Mason Hagenbucher said that children may think they’re only throwing snow, when in reality the snowball could contain hard ice or stones. Mielke said another reason for the ordinance is to protect the city from litigation.
Specifically, the city ordinance reads:
No person shall throw or shoot any object, arrow, stone, snowball or other missile or projectile, by hand or by any other means, at any other person or at, in or into any building, street, sidewalk, alley, highway, park, playground or other public place within the city
In other words, children who used to gather at the local snow covered playground to have a snowball fight are forbidden to do so, even though it was their tax dollars which paid for the parks. They’re disallowed from playing with snowballs. Such ordinances raise more questions than offer answers. For example, what’s next? Will citizens be allowed to make snow men on public property? Will they be able to sled on public property? If officials can ban snowball throwing, won’t they also be able to ban such long-held traditional activities?
Newsweek also reported Wausau is not alone. There are six other municipalities which have nearly identical snowball throwing bans. All of which leads us at TFTP to believe if the cities can get away with banning snowball throwing then they can probably do anything they want in the way of city ordinances.
“You’re not supposed to throw stuff at people, including snowballs,” City Attorney Tom Hayden, from the neighboring county of Merrill, who also bans snowball fights said. “That’s probably a good idea.”
The silver lining to these snowball bans, at least in the largest county of Wausau is that police haven’t enforced them — ever. The only citation ever issued under the ordinance in Wausau was for a case involving a citizen who shot another citizen with a bow and arrow and it crossed public property. So far, it appears that police are doing the right thing by refusing to enforce bad laws.
Not all citizens have been so lucky. As TFTP previously reported, kids in New York were held at gunpoint by police over a snowball fight.
As TFTP has reported in the past, some cities take ordinances and code enforcement to the extreme, so long as their so-called authority goes unchecked. One Georgia town banned cracked driveways and improperly stacked firewood among other ludicrous over-reaches of government in our opinion.
Hilda Brucker, a 25-year-resident of Doraville, said she was placed on criminal probation for “Rotted wood on house and chipping paint on fascia boards,” “High weeds in backyard and ivy on tree and vines on house,” and a “Driveway in a state of disrepair,” according to the lawsuit against the city.
If the people of Wausau want the frivolous banning of freedoms to stop, they’ll have to follow the lead of Doraville residents who are now in litigation to kill the ridiculous code by taking their own town to court. It seems if citizens want to fight back against the rising police state fueled by statist ideals such as banning snowball throwing, they’ll have to do so in a court of law. As Newsweek mentioned, one Colorado kid sued his town to have a 100-year-old snowball throwing ban overturned. Nine year old Dane Best of Severance, CO told his town’s leaders in 2018:
I think it’s an outdated law…I want to be able to throw a snowball without getting in trouble.
He won. And so can you America. So can you. The age of bans, licensing, permitting, and code enforcement fines needs to come to an end. There has to be a more commonsensical way for residents to enjoy their freedoms without being threatened with fines, arrest, or kidnapping by police because they’ve broken some arbitrary rule a politician has created.
“…..No person shall throw or shoot any object, arrow, stone, snowball or other missile or projectile, by hand or by any other means, at any other person or at, in or into any building, street, sidewalk, alley, highway, park, playground or other public place within the city……”
This also means that a father and son (or anyone else) can’t throw a baseball back and forth to each other. A pitcher can be fined during a baseball game for throwing a ball to the catcher. Handball, stick ball, tennis, and even ping-pong are now illegal. Who’s the idiot who wrote this law? (or ordinance, rather.)
Maybe they should licence the “use of sporting equipment and gaming equipment” and give courses on the proper means of operating these dangerous devices. Or TAX them – look how well that has worked with “Global Warming/Climate Change”. LOL
Who is the idiot that will follow it?
“No person shall throw or shoot any object, arrow, stone, snowball or other missile or projectile, by hand or by any other means, at any other person or at, in or into any building, street, sidewalk, alley, highway, park, playground or other public place within the city.”
Notice the broad wording, especially “object”. That means Frisbee, baseball, football, and other recreational activities are also illegal under this ordinance. Pure insanity.
That would have made my childhood rather boring. Buffalo area winters create cabin fever to a pitch, of a snowball, at the next thing that moves!
As a former Wisconsin resident I can honestly say that most of those living in Wisconsin will simply comply. They believe the government is looking out for them and not themselves. I am so glad I left the communist state of Wisconsin.
I will not live in a world where snowball fights are outlawed. It would be a world of woe and one where all are expected to be sissies. “Mommy, Johnny hit me with a snowball.” Now instead of Mommy saying, “Well, go throw one back at him,” Mommy says, “That’s terrible, Johnny, I’ll phone right up and have him arrested. Now let me fix you some milk and cookies.” Sissies are the new humans, NOT!!!!!
They want to change the name of our planet from Planet Earth to Planet Cage, where NOTHING is allowed except what they say is allowed. Planet Earth has a very long history of being resilient and of housing creatures and human beings who thrive on freedom. To save the snowball fight is to save freedom. And don’t forget, snow can also be used to make forts.
Aside: Just realized “fort” is the short form of “fortress.” Got snow?
🙂
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“The highest art of warfare is not to fight at all, but to subvert anything of value in the country of your enemy until such time that the perception of reality of your enemy is screwed up to such an extent that he does not perceive you as an enemy. You can then take your enemy without a single shot being fired.”
— Yuri Bezmenov, KGB defector
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