Oklahoma — Not OK

In Pocola, Oklahoma, police raided a store that sells pornography and sex toys. There's nothing illegal about such sales, but in Oklahoma they see these things differently. If the local police chief considers your merchandise 'trash,' the cops will just come in and destroy it, with a special shout-out to fellow Christians.

During the Monday night raid, officers from several agencies took inventory and seized items, which will be destroyed. "This is trash, and I hope this is the end of it for our community and for the Christian community and everybody out here. I hope this is the end of it," said Pocola Police Chief Eric Helms.

The cops were kind enough to take a local TV news crew along on a series of busts, and the station in question now positively drools at the chance to reveal who the store's customers were. The station's website says that

Over the past three weeks, Your Hometown News has been with Pocola authorities as they have arrested dozens of people. This Sunday, 40/29 is airing a special report called "Caught In The Act," in which reporters will take you inside the store. You'll be shocked to find out what people were doing and who was arrested.

The standard for what's obscene is, to say the least, remarkable in Oklahoma. For instance, in 1997, Oklahoma City police seized videotapes of the Oscar-winning film The Tin Drum from video shops and homes after a local judge said the movie contained child porn. That ruling was later laughed out of federal court.

'LEGALIZE IT' ADDENDUM: As an aside, Okies also recoil at the sight of tattoos: tattoo parlors are illegal in Oklahoma (no other state has a similar law), and underground ones are raided when discovered by the police. Efforts to legalize tattooing were long blocked by Republicans in the Oklahoma House, who were against the practice on "moral grounds." Those objections, apparently, have finally been overcome; as of November 1, running a tattoo parlor in Oklahoma will no longer be grounds for arrest.