Massachusetts
Weird Laws in Massachusetts: Which Are Still on the Books?
Independently fact-checked against primary sources (last audited October 21, 2026). · 5 primary sources cited on this page. How we verify our legal content
We took six claims from popular weird-law lists about Massachusetts and checked each one against the Massachusetts General Laws, a state regulation and the colonial court records, as of October 21, 2026. Two hold up nearly word for word. Two are real rules told sideways, and one was a colonial law repealed in 1681-82. For other states, see our weird laws by state guide.
Weird laws in Massachusetts: the verdicts
Each claim below was checked against the Massachusetts code and, where it names a town, the local code. 6 claims checked.
The claim: Gorillas may not ride in the back seat of a car.
What the law says: No Massachusetts statute was found that mentions gorillas or restricts animals to a particular car seat. The closest real rules are the traveling-animal-show law (non-human primates) and the safe-transport-of-animals rule for open truck beds.
No state law found in the Massachusetts code as of October 20, 2026.
How we searched
We searched the Massachusetts General Laws for any rule on gorillas, apes or primates and on passengers or animals in the back or rear seat of a car, and read the section titles of the motor vehicle chapter and the wildlife and animal-exhibition sections.
Parts of the code read
- Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 90 (motor vehicles, including seat belts, child restraints and safe transportation of animals)
- Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 131 (wildlife, including traveling animal exhibits with non-human primates)
- Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 272 (offenses including exhibition of wild animals)
No town code was checked for this claim.
Primary source · Checked October 21, 2026.
The claim: Star-Spangled Banner must be sung/played in full ($100 fine).
What the law says: Massachusetts law makes it an offense to play, sing or render the Star-Spangled Banner in a public place or at a public entertainment other than as a whole and separate number without embellishment, or to use it or any part of it as dance music, an exit march or in a medley. The penalty is a fine of up to $100. It does not require anyone to perform the anthem; it governs how it is performed when it is.
“Whoever plays, sings or renders the ''Star Spangled Banner'' in any public place, theatre, motion picture hall, restaurant or cafe, or at any public entertainment, other than as a whole and separate composition or number, without embellishment or addition in the way of national or other melodies, or whoever plays, sings or renders the ''Star Spangled Banner'', or any part thereof, as dance music, as an exit march or as a part of a medley of any kind, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars.”
Penalty: fine of not more than one hundred dollars
No court opinion in our database cites this section.
Primary source · Checked October 21, 2026.
The claim: Lions banned from movie theaters.
What the law says: No Massachusetts law bans lions from movie theaters. A general law bars exhibiting or sponsoring an exhibition of any wild animal to attract trade at any place of amusement, recreation or entertainment, punishable by a fine of up to $200 or up to 30 days in jail. Zoos, circuses, theatrical exhibitions, educational institutions and wild animal farms are exempt. The claim turns that general rule into a lion-specific movie-theater ban.
“No person shall exhibit or sponsor an exhibition of any wild animal for the purpose of attracting trade at or for any place of amusement, recreation or entertainment.”
Penalty: a fine of not more than two hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than thirty days
No court opinion in our database cites this section.
Primary source · Checked October 21, 2026.
The claim: Three-sandwich limit at wakes.
What the law says: No Massachusetts statute limits how many sandwiches a mourner may eat, and the funeral board's regulation sets no quantity limit. The real rule is that regulation: no alcohol may be served in a licensed funeral establishment, funeral home staff may not prepare food for a funeral, and they may serve food only if it comes from an outside vendor meeting the state food-sanitation code, is billed at the vendor's cost, and is served apart from where bodies are displayed. The claim turns these food-safety and billing conditions into a sandwich quota.
“No individual registered with the Board, or other agent or employee of any Licensed Funeral Establishment, shall prepare any food or beverages to be served in connection with any burial or funeral.”
Primary source · Checked October 21, 2026.
The claim: Christmas was outlawed in 1659.
What the law says: In 1659 the Massachusetts Bay General Court ordered a five-shilling fine for observing Christmas by abstaining from work, feasting or otherwise. The Court repealed it in 1681-82. It was colonial law, not a current Massachusetts statute.
Primary source · Checked October 21, 2026.
The claim: Pigeon-frightening (net traps) is regulated.
What the law says: Massachusetts General Laws chapter 266, section 132 makes it a crime to wilfully kill pigeons on, or frighten them from, beds set up for netting pigeons, within one hundred rods of the beds, unless on land the person lawfully occupies. The penalty is up to one month in jail or a fine of up to $20, plus actual damages to the owner or occupant of the beds.
“Whoever wilfully kills pigeons upon, or frightens them from, beds which have been made for the purpose of taking them in nets, by any method, within one hundred rods of the same, except on land lawfully occupied by himself, shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than one month or by a fine of not more than twenty dollars, and shall also be liable for the actual damages to the owner or occupant of such beds.”
Penalty: imprisonment for not more than one month or a fine of not more than twenty dollars, plus actual damages
No court opinion in our database cites this section.
Primary source · Checked October 21, 2026.
Checked October 21, 2026. This is legal history and information, not legal advice. Laws change; the linked official text is the authority.
The anthem has to be played straight
The Star-Spangled Banner claim is accurate, with one correction: the law does not make anyone perform the anthem. It governs how the anthem is performed when someone does. Massachusetts General Laws chapter 264, section 9 reads:
Whoever plays, sings or renders the "Star Spangled Banner" in any public place, theatre, motion picture hall, restaurant or cafe, or at any public entertainment, other than as a whole and separate composition or number, without embellishment or addition in the way of national or other melodies, or whoever plays, sings or renders the "Star Spangled Banner", or any part thereof, as dance music, as an exit march or as a part of a medley of any kind, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars.
So a band that folds a few bars of the anthem into a medley, or plays the crowd out with it, is doing what the section describes. The $100 figure on the lists matches the statute's maximum fine.
Pigeon beds and the one-hundred-rod rule
The pigeon claim is also on the books. Chapter 266, section 132 protects beds "made for the purpose of taking them in nets," meaning beds set up to catch pigeons in nets.
The section makes it a crime to wilfully kill pigeons on those beds, or frighten them away from the beds by any method, within one hundred rods of them. It does not apply on land the person lawfully occupies. The penalty is up to one month in jail or a fine of up to $20, and the person is also liable to the owner or occupant of the beds for actual damages.
Two claims built from plainer rules
Lions and places of amusement
No Massachusetts law bans lions from movie theaters. The real law is broader and has nothing to do with lions in particular. Chapter 272, section 77B says:
No person shall exhibit or sponsor an exhibition of any wild animal for the purpose of attracting trade at or for any place of amusement, recreation or entertainment.
The penalty is a fine of up to $200 or up to 30 days in jail. Zoos, circuses, theatrical exhibitions, educational institutions and wild animal farms are exempt. The list version turned a general rule about using wild animals to draw customers into a lion-specific movie theater ban.
Sandwiches at a wake
No Massachusetts statute limits how many sandwiches a mourner may eat, and the funeral board's regulation sets no quantity limit either. What that regulation, 239 CMR 3.11(3), does set is a series of conditions on food and drink at licensed funeral homes.
No alcohol may be served in a licensed funeral establishment. Funeral home staff may not prepare food for a funeral. They may serve food only if it comes from an outside vendor that meets the state food-sanitation code, is billed at the vendor's cost, and is served apart from the area where bodies are displayed. Somewhere along the way, those food-safety and billing rules became a sandwich quota.
When Christmas was against the law
This one was real, and it is long gone. In 1659 the Massachusetts Bay General Court ordered a fine of five shillings for observing Christmas, whether by abstaining from work, by feasting or in any other way.
The colony's own records show it unwinding. A vote noted "The law against keeping Christmas to be left out," and in 1681-82 the General Court declared that "the law referring to Christmass" was repealed. Both entries appear in volume V of the Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England. It was colonial law, and it is not a current Massachusetts statute.
The gorilla in the back seat
No Massachusetts statute was found that mentions gorillas or limits an animal to a particular seat in a car. We searched the General Laws for gorillas, apes and primates and for any rule on passengers or animals in the back or rear seat, and read the section titles of the motor vehicle chapter (chapter 90).
The nearest real rules sit elsewhere. Chapter 131, the wildlife chapter, covers traveling animal exhibits that include non-human primates, and chapter 90 has a rule on safely transporting animals in open truck beds. Neither says anything about a gorilla in the back seat.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it illegal to play the Star-Spangled Banner as dance music in Massachusetts?
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 264, s. 9 punishes playing, singing or rendering the anthem, or any part of it, as dance music, as an exit march or as part of a medley, and playing it in a public place other than as a whole and separate number without embellishment. The penalty is a fine of up to $100.
Is there a three-sandwich limit at wakes in Massachusetts?
No Massachusetts statute sets a sandwich limit, and the funeral board's regulation sets no quantity limit either. The funeral board regulation, 239 CMR 3.11(3), bars funeral home staff from preparing food for a funeral, bars alcohol in a licensed funeral establishment, and allows food only from an outside vendor that meets the state food-sanitation code, billed at the vendor's cost and served apart from where bodies are displayed.
Was Christmas ever illegal in Massachusetts?
Yes, in colonial times. In 1659 the Massachusetts Bay General Court set a five-shilling fine for observing Christmas by abstaining from work, feasting or otherwise, and it repealed that law in 1681-82. It is not part of current Massachusetts law.
Is it illegal for a gorilla to ride in the back seat of a car in Massachusetts?
No Massachusetts statute was found that mentions gorillas or restricts animals to a particular car seat, as of October 21, 2026. The closest real rules cover traveling animal exhibits with non-human primates and the safe transport of animals in open truck beds.
Are lions banned from movie theaters in Massachusetts?
No Massachusetts law bans lions from movie theaters. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 272, s. 77B bars exhibiting any wild animal to attract trade at a place of amusement, recreation or entertainment, with exemptions for zoos, circuses, theatrical exhibitions, educational institutions and wild animal farms. The penalty is a fine of up to $200 or up to 30 days in jail.
What are some real weird laws in Massachusetts?
Two are on the books today: the rule against playing the Star-Spangled Banner as dance music or in a medley (ch. 264, s. 9), and the protection for pigeon netting beds (ch. 266, s. 132), which carries up to one month in jail or a fine of up to $20.
Updates
Independently fact-checked against the cited primary sources
Sources and References
- Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 264, s. 9, Star Spangled Banner (Massachusetts Legislature)(malegislature.gov).gov
- Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 266, s. 132, pigeon netting beds (Massachusetts Legislature)(malegislature.gov).gov
- Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 272, s. 77B, exhibition of wild animals (Massachusetts Legislature)(malegislature.gov).gov
- 239 CMR 3.00, Board of Registration in Embalming and Funeral Directing, standards of business and professional practice (Mass.gov)(mass.gov).gov
- Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 90, motor vehicles (Massachusetts Legislature)(malegislature.gov).gov