“Fart-making is not criminal,” Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told a Senate Judiciary subcommittee this week, warning that some lawmakers were “playing fast and loose” with the law.
McCain, who was speaking to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, said he would continue to call for a complete overhaul of the federal laws governing public urination and defecation, even though he is not currently a Republican.
“The farting laws were passed in 1970 and they were intended to deter indecent exposure, but they’ve become an embarrassment for our nation,” he said.
“We are a nation of laws, and when they are misused, they can make for a pretty unpleasant atmosphere.”
McCain was referencing the federal law that prohibits people from defecating in public, but the law has been interpreted to include defecators who defecate in a vehicle.
He added that if lawmakers are looking to make it harder for people to defecitate in public spaces, they should instead look at more common public behavior, like public urinating.
He also argued that laws restricting people from urinating in public could be “too broad.”
“In some ways, the government has gone too far,” McCain said.
“We can’t just say, ‘No, we don’t care if a person does it in a restroom or in public.'”
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