Weird Colorado Laws Found on the Internet (Part IV)
(Part VIII: Odd Laws in Colorado)
If you do a search on the Internet for strange laws in Colorado, there are a number of sites that rattle off any number of wacky laws. But don’t believe everything you read online. Many of the weirdest, most ridiculous, or most outrageous laws you might stumble upon are either misreadings or misinterpretations of a statute or ordinance or are just completely made up.
Here is the truth behind some more of the most popular odd Colorado laws found on the Internet:
Number 10: Is it true that Sterling does not allow cats to run loose without being outfitted with a tail light?
Almost all the laws regarding cats in the town of Sterling are found in Chapter 4, Article III of the Sterling Municipal Code. That section is definitively titled “Cats.”
In that section, there are rules regarding the duties of persons performing vaccinations, rules about the euthanizing of cats suffering from rabies, and even a rule prohibiting the delivery of a cat belonging to someone else to the pound.
But there’s no rule regarding attaching a light to a cat’s tail because there’s just no such law.
Number 11: Is it true you can insult, taunt, and challenge Boulder police unless they tell you to stop?
Yes, it’s true. By Boulder’s municipal code, Sec. 5-3-6, titled “Use Fighting Words,” it is unlawful to “harass, annoy, or alarm another,” or to “repeatedly insult, taunt, or challenge another in a manner likely to provoke a disorderly response.”
Unless that other person is a police officer.
According to the ordinance, “If the person to whom such insult, taunt, or challenge is directed is a police officer, there is no violation of this section until the police officer requests the person to cease and discontinue the conduct” and the behavior continues.
Number 12: Is it really illegal to fire a catapult at a building in Aspen?
Yes, that’s also true. In the town of Aspen, it’s not only against the law to throw snowballs “at any vehicle, building,” or “any person,” but it’s also illegal to “discharge” “any bow, blowgun, slingshot,” or “catapult” in any public place. Aspen Muni. Code § 15.04.210.