The Myth of Natoma's Striped Suit Knife-Throwing Ban

The internet loves a good weird law, and few are as oddly specific as this gem allegedly from Natoma, Kansas: it's illegal to throw knives at men wearing striped suits. The claim has bounced around 'bizarre laws' listicles for years, painting a picture of small-town Kansas legislators with very particular concerns about fashion-targeted blade violence.

There's just one problem: this law almost certainly doesn't exist.

The Search for Evidence

Natoma is a real place—a tiny city in Osborne County with a population of just over 300 people. It has a municipal code, accessible online like any proper Kansas municipality. But searches through official ordinances reveal no prohibition on knife-throwing, striped or otherwise.

Kansas does have actual knife laws. The state prohibits throwing stars and ballistic knives, and has regulations about carrying weapons in certain locations. None of these mention clothing patterns as a factor in their enforcement.

How Fake Laws Go Viral

So where did this come from? Strange law collections have been popular since before the internet—appearing in joke books, magazine columns, and bathroom readers. Many are:

• Misinterpretations of real laws taken wildly out of context
• Outdated ordinances from the 1800s that were never formally repealed
• Complete fabrications that sound plausible enough to spread
• Exaggerations of boring regulations made 'interesting' through creative rewording

The Natoma knife law likely falls into the last category—if it has any basis at all. Perhaps there was once a general weapons ordinance, or a circus-related regulation, that got transformed through repeated retelling into this specific, absurd-sounding rule.

The Appeal of Absurdity

We want these laws to be real. They're funny, they make us feel superior to our supposedly silly ancestors, and they suggest that bureaucracy is even more ridiculous than we thought. A law banning knife-throwing at striped-suit wearers implies some hilarious backstory—what happened to make this necessary? Was there an epidemic? A vendetta against barbershop quartets?

But that's exactly why we should be skeptical. Real municipal codes are boring. They cover zoning variances, building permits, and noise ordinances. When something sounds too weird to be true, it usually is.

The next time you see a list of 'crazy laws still on the books,' approach with caution. Some are real (and genuinely weird). Most are not. And the men of Natoma, Kansas—striped suits and all—were probably never in any knife-related danger to begin with.