Officials in 1 Town Say They'll Fine Anyone Older Than 16 Who Goes Trick-or-Treating

A law being introduced into a Canadian town on Oct. 3 will make it illegal for teenagers 16 and older to go trick-or-treating, and people have very mixed feelings about it.

Lawmakers in the province of New Brunswick are enforcing an 8 p.m. curfew and plan on issuing fines of up to $200 to anyone "caught in 'facial disguise' in public after curfew — like a zombie mask or witch's veil — or anyone over 16 found roaming the streets for treats," according to CBC News.

Although many think the new rules seem over-the-top, the new regulations are actually a big step up from the laws that were in place before, which prevented kids as young as 14 from going door-to-door and enforced a 7 p.m. curfew.

Deputy mayor Kim Chamberlain explained in an interview with CBC News that she wanted to do away with the restrictions altogether, but was overruled: "I wanted to demolish it altogether but I got outvoted . . . at least we were able to make some modifications."

Chamberlain points out that the new laws are a slight improvement for working parents. "At least we made some changes to accommodate parents who are working later so they at least have time to feed their children and dress them up before they go trick-or-treating."

Regardless of whether the curfew is 7 p.m. or pushed back an hour, enforcing the rules will certainly come with challenges, especially for children who are tall for their age: "Some kids are tall," said Chamberlain. "My cousin's son is 5' 4" and 15 years old. What are we going to do, go up to him and ask him 'How old are you' and 'Show me your ID? That doesn't make sense."

Do you think these laws are fair? Or should everyone be allowed to trick-or-treat no matter how old they are?