Sex Toy Laws in Texas

In a strange and somewhat unsettling piece of news, it has been recently brought to our attention that there are more laws surrounding sex toys than there are surrounding gun ownership in the great state of Texas and we can't get our heads around this piece of information in the Eden's Temple Office.

According to law, owning more than six sex toys is prohibited in Texas, as stated in Section 43.23 of the penal code. The term "obscene devices" is used in the code rather than the phrase "sex toys," however.

According to the legislation, "A person who possesses six or more obscene devices or identical or similar obscene articles is presumed to possess them with intent to promote the same. The law waswritten in 1973 at a time when the United States Supreme Court was dealing with obscenity laws and cases from around the country, seemingly taking a tough stance on dildos, vibrators and sex toys in general.

To put this into perspective, Texas eased its gun rules in 2021, adopting "permit-less carry" that permits anybody in the state to carry a pistol in public without a background check, according to a story in the Washington Post.

This means that anyone over the age of 21 is eligible to carry a gun without undergoing at least four hours of training, a written examination, or another assessment of their weapons proficiency. In context, if you were buying sex toys and decided to purchase more than six items, you could be in trouble!

Ted Cruz took part in a court lawsuit to keep the ban in place in 2007. Despite the fact that this was reversed in 2008, there are still restrictions on how many sex toys can be stored by a resident of the state.

Ireland is no stranger to weird laws. We found this great article from Meanwhile in Ireland, stating the 10 most strange and weird laws of all time in the Emerald Isle.  There doesn't seem to be any mention of dildo's, vibrators or bondage gear on this list so next time you're thinking of buying sex toys, count yourself lucky that you're living in Ireland and not Texas!

We definitely think this law needs updating. It's hard to imagine what constitutes an 'obscene device'. these days

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