It is NOT illegal to carry ice cream in your back pocket in Alabama, Kentucky, or Georgia

The alleged rationale is that horse thieves used this method to lure horses away without physically leading them (touching the reins), allowing them to plausibly claim the horse "followed them home" of its own volition. It's a clever story, but there's no evidence any such law ever existed.

Legal experts and local attorneys in Kentucky have confirmed this is a myth with no ordinance or statute in the state code. Political science scholars in Georgia have dismissed this as folklore, noting that while odd laws exist, this specific one lacks a statutory footprint. In Alabama, no primary source citation exists—the rumor is circular, with "weird law" websites citing each other without reference to any legislative act.

This story persists because it has high "narrative logic." The explanation (horse theft trickery) is clever and evokes a rugged, trickster frontier history that Americans find appealing. It serves as a "Just-So Story" for legal oddities—providing a rational (if archaic) explanation for a non-existent prohibition.