If they were so afraid, why announce it?

Question

Arkansas legislatures are afraid of pedophiles taking advantage of this, because some people are just stupid enough to do this... But if they were so afraid why would they announce it for the world to see?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070818/ap_on_re_us/marriage_age_arkansas

-A concerned Arkansan

I know some questionable parents who after hearing this might actually sell their kids to pedophiles for crack money... That's all I'm saying...

I want to point out that this is NOT the norm for Arkansas, but there are some weirdo's out there!!!

Answer 1

1. There's a "typo" in the written form of the legislation.
2. That "typo" conflicts with the legislative intent of this law.
3. They have announced they are going to amend it to bring it into line with what the legislative intent was.
4. By announcing it, they take away ammunition from the likes of John Stewart and other comedians who would have a field day in their acts with this.
We had a similar event in the history of my state (Nevada). It was a law left over from the territorial days which allowed marriage of a female as young as nine years old with the consent of her parents. We repealed it in the 1950s and raised the permissable age to 16.

Answer 2

I bet ye all the pedo's are moving there, to marry 6 year olds.

Answer 3

to alleviate any confusion to anyone who knows about the law.