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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009
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Aussies Ditch Dueling Law

Laws on duels, piracy walk the plank as criminal code is updated

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(Newser) – There's no longer a law against challenging somebody to a duel in Queensland, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. As part of an effort to get old laws off the books, the Australian state is also scrapping laws against piracy on the high seas, and mayors will no longer have to read the Riot Act to mobs of angry townspeople before rioters can be charged.

The state says it is trying to get rid of obsolete laws, some of them centuries old. It believes that other laws in place—such as the one against murder—will prevent duels from making a comeback. "That's not a green light for any aspiring pirates," the state's attorney general warned after chopping the part of the code dealing with ocean outlaws.

Rioters are seen in the 1974 comedy
Rioters are seen in the 1974 comedy "Young Frankenstein."   (YouTube)
An old-fashioned pistol is seen in this undated file photo.
An old-fashioned pistol is seen in this undated file photo.   ((c) Zaqarbal)
A duelling pistol is seen in the Deutsches Museum in Munich in this undated photo.
A duelling pistol is seen in the Deutsches Museum in Munich in this undated photo.   ((c) adobemac)
An old-fashioned gun in seen in this undated file photo.
An old-fashioned gun in seen in this undated file photo.   ((c) Kevin Hutchinson)
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Michael Cera in a "Drunk History" of the Alexander Hamilton-Aaron Burr duel.   (WeSupportLive)

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