North Carolina beach town bans thongs. Score: Terrorists, 1. The American People, 0.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

North Carolina beach town bans thongs



(CNN) -- If you plan on going to Kure Beach, North Carolina, bring your sunscreen and shades, but please leave your thong behind.

The seaside community has adopted a zero tolerance policy on anyone wearing the barely-there bikini by the shore on their part of North Carolina's Pleasure Island, just south of Wilmington.

"You can do what you want to in your own space," said Mayor Dean Lambeth, "but for public decency, keep it off the public beach."

Lambeth told CNN he and the town supervisors last week unanimously approved the ordinance banning the skimpy bathing wear.

"Everything we do is family oriented. We like the small town atmosphere," he said.

The decision to forbid thongs was triggered by a couple's recent inquiry about spending their honeymoon in Kure Beach, Lambeth said.

According to the mayor, the couple wanted to know if they could wear thongs. The man thought the town's policy on the matter was ambiguous, Lambeth said. After consulting with the police chief, he determined the ordinance should be amended to better address the issue.

Section 12-32 of the Code of the Town of Kure Beach, which was adopted on April 22, makes it illegal "for any person being naked or insufficiently clothed ... to bathe or swim in the Atlantic Ocean" or any other area within the town's jurisdiction. Sun-bathing "naked or insufficiently clothed" is also banned.

"Thong bathing suits or similar attire are specifically prohibited," the code says.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/04/28/north.carolina.no.thongs/?hpt=T2