Move over axe-throwing ranges. Indiana just made throwing stars legal.
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- A bill signed into law in April made throwing stars legal in Indiana again.
- State Senator Linda Rogers said throwing stars are "like any other knife."
- Rogers suggested the previous ban was due to fears about the stars that rose in the 1980s.
A recent Indiana bill just legalized throwing stars — the thin, star-shaped knives popularized in 70s and 80s ninja movies.
In an interview with Insider, State Senator Linda Rogers, who authored the bill, said the issue came up when owners of a mini-golf business in her district, Ninja Golf, reached out and expressed interest in adding a throwing stars range to their other amenities.
Ninja Golf, a "Japanese garden-style" course, includes a 27-holes of miniature golf, a nature walking path, a kabuki theater, and a karaoke lounge.
Rogers said the business referenced the growing popularity of axe-throwing ranges when they spoke with her, and likened them to their idea of using throwing stars.
"There's no reason that these throwing stars should be illegal," Rogers said.
SB 77 amends Indiana's codes to include throwing stars in their definition of "knives," which are legal in many cases, but still prevents the throwing stars and other weapons from being taken to or used on school campuses.
Previously, possession, manufacturing, or selling of a throwing star was completely banned and a Class C misdemeanor, which could hold a punishment of 60 days in jail or fines up to $500, according to Indiana law.
Authored by Rogers and fellow State Senator Liz Brown, the bill was sponsored and supported by multiple senators and representatives in Indiana's General Assembly. The bill passed through the state House and Senate almost unanimously and was signed into law by the governor on April 20. It took effect July 1.
In order to meet qualifications to have a throwing star range, as Ninja Golf planned, businesses have to take a number of steps, which may include liability insurance and having experts in throwing stars on site, Rogers said.
In speaking to the state's previous ban on throwing stars, Rogers said her colleagues brought up a number of reasons throwing stars were less lethal than other weapons that have protections under the Constitution.
Rogers suggested the law originally reacted to fears fostered in the 1980s. A story from 1984 by the New York Times interviewed police and families who called the throwing star a "lethal weapon" and part of a dangerous fad.
"This law was maybe a reaction to this panic, and maybe the eighties when we saw them in TV a lot, or in the movies — I think people got a little nervous," Rogers said. "I think since that time people have recognized they're simply like any other knife."