Legal Commentary

What is a zoobow?

By David Kopel

In Massachusetts, it is illegal to sell a ?zoobow.? Mass. Gen. Laws Ann ch. 269, § 12. It is also illegal to sell a manrikigusari, nunchaku, shuriken, or klackers (the children?s toy popular in the early 1970s). The Massachusetts law does appear to have prevented the klackers violent crime epidemic which now plagues the other 49 states.

The minimum sentence for selling any of the above weapons in Massachusetts is two and half years in prison. So I want to be careful that when I am in Massachusetts, I do not violate this law by selling a zoobow. However, ?zoobow? does not appear in The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, and I have been unable to find a definition on the web.

Accordingly, I would be grateful if a commenter could explain what a zoobow is.

Full post as published by The Volokh Conspiracy on May 20, 2010 (boomark / email).