In a community more than 200 years old it’s no wonder our law books still have some outdated, even funny, laws.

Such laws prevent citizens from participating in such random activities as fighting bear or taking a drunken elephant for a walk down city streets.

And while we laugh at some of outdated and outlandish rules, each of the laws illustrates an important feature of our government and at the same time a dangerous thing, too.

Our system of government is among the most flexible the world has ever seen, and that’s how it’s worked so well for so many years.

Rules and regulations can be changed and modified through the years to fit the needs of society at that time.

The fact that some of these strange rules remain on the books is most likely just an oversight. Others are good reminders that sometimes laws shouldn’t be made on a whim.

For example, no one really worries that drunken elephants are likely to ever be a problem again in Natchez, but leaving the laws on the books doesn’t really hurt anything.

Some of the archaic laws also remind us of the importance of not adding laws on small whims, but only when necessary. Just because our local leaders can add laws to handle one-time issues like drunken elephants, it doesn’t mean they should.

Laws should be added and changed only when absolutely necessary. If not, someone 200 years from now may be laughing at our legislation.