Throw a snowball, get a fine

[kenny]

A penny for your thoughts on this ...

My thoughts:
This is silly.
99.99999999362% of snowballs are thrown in good fun and result in injuries no worse than those delivered by a full belly laugh.

Driving in a car is MUCH more more likely to result in injury or death.
Shall we outlaw cars too?

IOW

Wisconsin town has outlawed throwing snowballs

Freeze! A Wisconsin city has made it illegal to throw snowballs — ranking them alongside rocks and arrows as an outlawed weapon. “No person shall throw or shoot any object, arrow, stone…

nypost.com

A Wisconsin city has made it illegal to throw snowballs — ranking them alongside rocks and arrows as an outlawed weapon.

“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,” the municipal code in Wausau reads.

The ordinance, under the section for “weapons,” also says snowballs cannot be thrown “at, in or into any building, street, sidewalk, alley, highway, park, playground or other public place within the city.”

“It’s really in the interest of public safety,” Wausau Mayor Robert B. Mielke told WCCO of the ruling he actually introduced a few years ago.

“A lot of it is just consideration and common sense. You don’t throw stuff at people, period.”

The police department told WCCO that it cannot recall anyone being fined for breaking the snowball ban.

 

[lyra]

Heh, when you grow up in Canada you learn that snowballs aren't all that fun. YMMV.

 

[missy]

I am OK with this. I don't want to get hurt by a snowball hitting me. No thanks. Safety above snowball throwing. I agree it is just common sense. Do not throw anything at me unless you are throwing lots of cash. That I will happily accept. YMMV.

 

[stracci2000]

When I was about 12, a boy at the school bus stop threw a snowball at me and hit me in the eye.
It really hurt! I went home crying. After that, I stayed far away from rotten little boys throwing snowballs.

 

[lyra]

What other kids dreaded the winter phrase "I'm going to wash your face with snow!". Ugh. Siblings, friends, non-friends, no one was immune to doing it. Snow is rough and crystalline. I hurts.

 

[kenny]

Oh well.

As a kid I loved snowball fights with my siblings.

But sure, using anything as a weapon is bad.

 

[msop04]

Growing up in southeast TN, we didn't get to experience much snow... but when it did come down, we took advantage! I've been hit HARD by a snowball (which, let's be honest... in TN, that's basically a ball of ice), and it hurt like a MF. I had a HUGE bruise for weeks.

You can really hurt someone like that, so I'm good with the law.

 

[HollyS]

And pens or pencils can be used to stab someone . . . shall we outlaw them in school and in the workplace?

As Kenny said, anything can be used as a weapon. Now, apparently, it's frozen precip. How long before they 'outlaw' rain? Well, someone could drown, couldn't they? Don't shake your umbrella in my direction; I might slip and fall and hurt myself on the rain you 'illegally' collected.

 

[chemgirl]

It’s winter half of the year here and maybe this should be a law.

If I throw a handful of loose snow at DH I’m probably not getting carted off to jail, but there are instances where I could see it as assault.

For example I’ve been hit by a snowball thrown from a moving vehicle and I was bleeding afterwards. In school there were definitely organized attacks on people as a bullying tactic “everyone meet up and get so and so at recess”. It was also a thing to hold kids face first in the snow and force snow down their necks into their jackets. Not cool.

 

[kenny]

I think concussions and accumulated brain damage from football and boxing are getting more attention lately.
I wonder if the days of such sports are numbered.

Lots of people enjoy activities that can be dangerous.
Should their freedom be taken away?

 

[chemgirl]

Will they actually charge people for participating in a consensual snowball fight? Like if my sister and I pelt each other with a few in our own yard would it really matter?

I think laws like this one exist to protect people who are targeted. It’s not really ok for someone to throw things at you if you don’t want them to.

It’s different than harm caused while playing a sport imho.

 

[telephone89]

@chemgirl I would doubt if its consensual that anything would happen.

People make such a big deal out of these laws taking away their rights, but you have to look at the back end of why they would do this. If it wasn't previously stipulated that a snowball is "legally" considered a "projectile", then someone who had property damaged (or bodily harm) would have minimal recourse in pursuing damages. Now they've just clarified that this item fits under this category, that's basically it. I don't think there are going to be Wisconsin cops throwing their sirens on and jumping kids who are having a "friendly" fight lol.

But I could be completely wrong, I've no idea about Wisconsin laws or if theyre much different than Canadian laws.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

i have never had snow lying around after lunch
i never ever have experienced snow ball menace only snowball fun
what a sad world we live in

 

[rainydaze]

I would imagine this law was put into place for two reasons. 1) to deter people who would throw snowballs at unsuspecting people (which often goes hand-in-hand with the more aggressive type of throwing and school bullying type snowball throwing) and 2) to offer recourse if someone is badly injured in a non-consensual snowball event.

I doubt officers will go around arresting kids and parents and adults who are having friendly, mutual snowball fights in their yards.

 

[arkieb1]

My city (large capital city in Australia) pays a company that creates snow with snow machines in our tropical winter just so we can pay for our kids to go into a fake environment and throw snowballs at each other.

We had a US warship come into dock several months back at the end of our winter - most of the men went to the Gold Coast and were all swimming at our local beaches... (all of the locals were like it's way too cold) but the US guys were stating our winter was like your summer, where many of them were from....

 

[redwood66]

There are plenty of laws against types assault that new ones with specifics are not needed. Nannying for the sake of nannying.

 

[partgypsy]

I think it's a silly rule but whatever. I think it will be selectively enforced. I do remember many fun exciting snowball fights when I was a kid mostly with my siblings or kids on my block. But I also remember getting nailed by some really hard snowballs/iceballs when I wasn't fighting but just walking. And one time a kid threw an iceball through the open door of the bus as it was pulling out and hit the busdriver in the face. It injured the bus driver and could have caused an accident. (Kids sometimes made really hard snowballs by dipping them in water and having them re-freeze).

 

[Bron357]

I would so risk a fine throwing a snowball here where I live in Sydney Australia because the last time we had snow in my suburb was
never........