Can I legally do this?

[Charles Spurgeon]

Hello,

I'm thinking about doing some tract distribution later on during this summer.... these would be full-size brochure style tracts... can I legally put them into a plastic newspaper bag, and throw them at the ends of people's driveways? Much like a newspaper? It'll be easier for me, and I hope keeps out confrontations.

Also, should I use a small rock in each to keep it weighted down?

These are the tracts I'm going to use, they're heavily reformed:

http://comingintheclouds.org/tracts/pdf/areyouready.pdf

http://comingintheclouds.org/tracts/pdf/heaven.pdf

http://comingintheclouds.org/tracts/pdf/satisfy.pdf

http://comingintheclouds.org/tracts/pdf/anticath.pdf

 

[DarkHorseRising]

You could be accused of littering and a small tract could be blown away even if it's in a bag, causing a nuisance for people to clean up. And would you really be saving time after you bagged and weighed each individual tract? How many rocks do you plan on carrying around? I'd suggest just putting them in the mailboxes.

 

[heymikey80]

It depends on where you're going to distribute 'em. Local ordinances may interject.

 

[handy]

It would be illegal to put them in the mailboxes... Nothing is supposed to go in a mailbox except USPO mail...

Sec. 1725. Postage unpaid on deposited mail matter Whoever knowingly and willfully deposits any mailable matter such as statements of accounts, circulars, sale bills, or other like matter, on which no postage has been paid, in any letter box established, approved, or accepted by the Postal Service for the receipt or delivery of mail matter on any mail route with intent to avoid payment of lawful postage thereon, shall for each such offense be fined under this title.
http://law.onecle.com/uscode/18/1725.html

Putting them in people's doorjambs, between a door and screen door, under the windshield wipers, weighted with a rock on a door step would all be ways in which I've seen tracts like this distributed in the many neighborhoods I've lived in. However, if there is a "no solicitation" sign, it's best not to leave a tract either...

 

[Charles Spurgeon]

You could be accused of littering and a small tract could be blown away even if it's in a bag, causing a nuisance for people to clean up. And would you really be saving time after you bagged and weighed each individual tract? How many rocks do you plan on carrying around? I'd suggest just putting them in the mailboxes.

It's illegal to put stuff in mailboxes here... though when I did my Church internship in Quebec 4 years ago, it's allowed up there.... thus we did that.

 

[DarkHorseRising]

It's illegal to put stuff in mailboxes here... though when I did my Church internship in Quebec 4 years ago, it's allowed up there.... thus we did that.

Wha? Normal, everyday mailboxes attached to houses? I've never heard about that, how strange.

 

[Charles Spurgeon]

Wha? Normal, everyday mailboxes attached to houses? I've never heard about that, how strange.

It's illegal for every mailbox, except for maybe the door slot style... the rest... rural, city mail boxes, etc are illegal and can get you fined, and/or imprisoned here.

The fines can be $300 for every occurrence... thus if I did 100 mailboxes, that's $300 x 100...

For the prison sentence, I think it could be up to 5 years in Federal prison... :eeeekkk

 

[jasoncran]

well where i live in florida i throw the free paper to houses that arent on the paper i throw or have requested not to recieve it.

yes the old mail boxes are on the houses here and they are for the eldery or an old house that was grandfathered in before the change. that said i dont think what you are doing in my county would be illegal.