Guide Collections Laws Updated July 7, 2026

Weird Laws in Colorado

Colorado State Capitol building in Denver under a blue sky

Weird Laws in Colorado

Collection - Laws

The Colorado State Capitol in Denver, where lawmakers meet each year but rarely spend floor time repealing obscure local ordinances.

Quick Answer

Weird Laws in Colorado

  1. 1

    Four Colorado weird-law claims check out: a Boulder couch ban, a real bicycle DUI law, a Denver livestock rule, and an Aspen snowball ordinance.

  2. 2

    The bicycle DUI law is not a joke. Colorado defines 'vehicle' broadly enough that a drunk cyclist can be charged the same as a drunk driver.

  3. 3

    The Denver vacuum-lending law and the black-car Sunday driving ban are internet myths with no matching ordinance anywhere in city code.

Unusual Laws in Colorado That Are Real

A university neighborhood couch ban and a genuine bicycle DUI charge top the list of Unusual Laws in Colorado that check out against actual code. Each one still gets enforced today.

The Boulder Porch Couch Ban

The Boulder Porch Couch Ban

Law
Boulder makes it a violation to leave upholstered furniture, including couches, recliners, and mattresses, outside on a porch or in a yard in a defined stretch of the University Hill neighborhood.
Meaning
The rule only applies to furniture visible from the street, left out overnight, inside the boundary running roughly between Baseline Road, Arapahoe Avenue, Broadway, and Ninth Street.
Reason
Students dragged old couches onto porches for parties, and some of those couches got set on fire during celebrations near the University of Colorado campus. Boulder passed the ban after fire crews got tired of responding to burning furniture.
You Can Get a DUI on a Bicycle

You Can Get a DUI on a Bicycle

Law
Colorado's DUI statute punishes driving a "vehicle" while impaired, and state law defines vehicle broadly enough to include a bicycle.
Meaning
A cyclist can face the same DUI or DWAI charge as a drunk driver. Police just cannot demand a breath or blood test under implied-consent rules the way they can with a car, since that part of the law applies only to motor vehicles.
Reason
Lawmakers wrote "vehicle" broadly to cover anything moving under its own power or human power on a public road, and never carved out an exception for pedal-powered ones. Cyclists get swept into the same alcohol law as drivers as a result.
No Stabling Livestock Above the Ground Floor

No Stabling Livestock Above the Ground Floor

Law
Denver bans stabling or confining a horse, mule, or other livestock on any floor above or below street level, unless the building is fireproof.
Meaning
Keep a horse in a basement or a second-story loft in Denver, and code enforcement can cite the building, not just the animal owner.
Reason
Wood-frame stables and barns built above ground level were a real fire and structural-collapse risk in a growing city, and the rule keeps large animals on solid, fireproof ground.
Aspen's Ban on Throwing Snowballs at People or Cars

Aspen's Ban on Throwing Snowballs at People or Cars

Law
Aspen prohibits throwing a stone, snowball, or other missile, or firing a slingshot, bow, or catapult, at a vehicle, a building, or a person in any public place.
Meaning
A snowball tossed between two willing friends rarely draws a citation. Aim one at a stranger, a tourist, or a passing car, and the ordinance covers it the same as any other thrown object.
Reason
Aspen's downtown draws heavy foot and vehicle traffic in ski season, and the rule was written for public safety around crowded sidewalks and streets, not to outlaw snowmen or snow forts.

Weird Laws in Colorado We Couldn't Verify

Not all Real Colorado Laws You Won't Believe survive a source check. A county-specific kissing rule and a day-of-the-week gun restriction are the most repeated among them, and neither has ever turned up in an actual code section.

Historic Logan County Courthouse building in Sterling, Colorado

It's illegal to kiss a sleeping woman in Logan County

Claim
Logan County has a specific law against kissing someone while they are asleep.
Why We Couldn't Verify It
No Logan County ordinance matching this description has been located. Colorado does have a broader state law covering unwanted sexual contact with someone who is unconscious or incapacitated, but that statute is not written around kissing and names no county. The Logan County version appears to be a local retelling with no ordinance number or date attached.
Colorado Springs city hall building exterior

Carrying a six-shooter is banned on Sundays and holidays in Colorado Springs

Claim
Colorado Springs bans carrying a six-shooter on Sundays, Election Day, or other holidays.
Why We Couldn't Verify It
The city's actual firearms ordinance regulates where and how a weapon can be displayed in public, with no mention of specific days or dates anywhere in the code. No earlier version of a calendar-based gun rule has surfaced in city archives either.

Strange Colorado Laws That Are Myths

Type Strange Colorado Laws into any search bar and the same three claims keep surfacing, each one collapsing as soon as you check the actual city code behind it.

Upright vacuum cleaner on a floor

It's illegal to lend your vacuum cleaner to your next-door neighbor in Denver

Myth
Denver residents cannot legally lend a vacuum cleaner to the neighbor next door.
Reality
No Denver ordinance, Colorado statute, or federal rule restricts lending household appliances. The claim traces back to a 2000 newspaper list of "stupid laws" that cited no source, and Denver's own code enforcement office has since called it an internet myth with no basis in city law.
Black car photographed from the side at sunset

You can't drive a black car in Denver on Sundays

Myth
Denver bans driving a black car on Sundays.
Reality
No such driving restriction has ever existed in Denver or Colorado. The confusion likely comes from a real Colorado law that closes car dealerships on Sundays, a rule about selling vehicles, not about which color you're allowed to drive.
Chicken and rooster resting together outdoors

Louisville bans keeping chickens

Myth
The town of Louisville outlaws keeping chickens.
Reality
Louisville allows up to six hens per household and even permits up to three turkeys separately. Only roosters are banned, almost certainly because of the noise, not the chickens themselves.

Why Colorado's Home Rule Cities Keep Their Own Odd Ordinances

Historic municipal building representing a Colorado home rule city government
Home rule lets Colorado cities write their own codes, which is part of why old ordinances like Boulder's couch ban never make it onto a repeal agenda.

Colorado grants broad home rule authority to cities like Boulder, Denver, and Aspen, letting each write and amend its own municipal code independently of the state legislature. With dozens of home rule cities running their own code review schedules, a fire-era couch ban or a snowball ordinance can sit untouched for decades because no single body is responsible for auditing all of them at once.

Key Facts

1 Colorado also treats riding an intoxicated horse on a public road as its own offense, separate from the bicycle DUI law, though it's only a traffic infraction capped at a $100 fine.
2 Boulder's couch ban applies only inside a specific boundary of the University Hill neighborhood near the CU Boulder campus, not citywide.
3 Aspen's missile-throwing ordinance also covers blowguns and bows, not just snowballs and slingshots.
4 Denver's livestock-stabling rule makes an exception for fireproof buildings, so a properly built structure can still house animals above ground level.
5 More than 100 Colorado municipalities operate as home rule cities, each maintaining its own separate code instead of following a single statewide template.

Quick Answers

Is Boulder's couch ban actually enforced?
Yes, but only inside a marked University Hill boundary. Boulder does not enforce the rule citywide.
Can you really get a DUI for riding a bicycle drunk in Colorado?
Yes. Colorado's DUI statute applies to a broadly defined 'vehicle,' which includes bicycles. A drunk cyclist can be charged with DUI or DWAI, though police cannot force a breath test the way they can with a car.
Is it illegal to keep a horse in a Denver apartment building?
Denver bans stabling livestock, including horses and mules, on any floor above or below street level unless the building is fireproof. The rule targets the structure, not just the animal.
Is the Denver vacuum-lending law real?
No. City officials have publicly called it a myth, since no Denver ordinance or Colorado statute has ever restricted lending a vacuum cleaner.
What is the weirdest real law still on the books in Colorado?
The bicycle DUI rule surprises the most people, since riding drunk feels harmless compared to driving. Colorado's broad vehicle definition puts cyclists under the same alcohol law as motorists anyway.
Can you actually get in trouble for a snowball fight in Aspen?
Only if you hit a stranger, a building, or a car. Friendly snowball fights between willing participants are not what the ordinance targets.

Sources

Information is cross-referenced with official state archives.
Found an error? Report it here.

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