Colorado Pepper Spray and Stun Gun Laws (2026)

An ordinary hand-held canister of pepper spray or tear gas carries no statute of its own in Colorado; the state's weapons article regulates a "gas gun," a device built to launch gas-filled projectiles, not an aerosol canister. A stun gun is regulated more directly: Colorado defines it, makes unlawful use of one during a crime a felony, and reaches it through the state's felon-in-possession statute.

Jurisdiction scope: This page covers Colorado state law only, principally Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 18-12-101, 18-12-102, 18-12-105, 18-12-105.5, 18-12-105.6, 18-12-106.5, 18-12-108, 18-12-108.5, 18-12-108.7, 18-1-901, 18-4-513, and title 29, article 11.7. It does not cover Colorado's concealed handgun permit statute.

Is pepper spray legal in Colorado?

Yes. An ordinary hand-held aerosol canister of pepper spray, tear gas, or another chemical defense spray is legal to buy, carry, and possess in Colorado, because Article 12, the state's weapons article, does not define or regulate one. What Article 12 does regulate is a "gas gun." Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-12-101(1)(n) defines "gas gun" as "a device designed for projecting gas-filled projectiles that release their contents after having been projected from the device," and includes the projectiles made for such a device. Section 18-12-102(2) lists a gas gun as an "illegal weapon" alongside a blackjack, a ballistic knife, and metallic knuckles, and § 18-12-102(4) makes knowingly possessing an illegal weapon a class 1 misdemeanor. That definition covers a device built to launch gas-filled projectiles, such as a pepper-ball or tear-gas launcher, and the projectiles for it; it does not describe a hand-held spray canister carried in a purse or on a keychain. Section 18-12-102(5) gives an affirmative defense to a gas-gun charge for a peace officer, a member of the armed forces or the Colorado National Guard acting in the lawful discharge of duties, or a person holding a valid permit and license for the weapon. Article 12 contains no separate age minimum, capacity or formula limit, or purchase restriction naming pepper spray, tear gas, or a chemical defense spray.

Is a stun gun legal in Colorado?

Yes, for lawful, simple possession. Colorado does directly regulate a stun gun, unlike an ordinary spray canister, but its regulation targets misuse and certain people, not ordinary carrying. Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-12-101(1)(x) defines "stun gun" as "a device capable of temporarily immobilizing a person by the infliction of an electrical charge," a definition that applies throughout Article 12. Section 18-12-106.5, "Use of stun guns," states: "A person commits a class 5 felony if he knowingly and unlawfully uses a stun gun in the commission of a criminal offense." That offense turns on unlawful use during a crime, not on possessing or carrying a stun gun for ordinary self-defense; Article 12 contains no separate section restricting simple possession or carrying of a stun gun. The Colorado Court of Appeals reads "uses" broadly: in People v. Wheeler, 170 P.3d 817 (Colo. App. 2007), where the defendant activated a stun baton in front of other students but never touched or tried to touch them, the court held that section 18-12-106.5 "unambiguously creates a separate crime whenever a stun gun facilitates commission of the predicate offense, whether or not it is discharged." Wheeler and People v. Bass, 155 P.3d 547 (Colo. App. 2006), also hold that the predicate offense is not a lesser included offense of the stun gun count, so the two convictions do not merge.

Colorado's felon-in-possession statute, § 18-12-108(1), makes it a class 5 felony for a person previously convicted of a qualifying felony to knowingly possess, use, or carry "a firearm... or any other weapon that is subject to the provisions of this article 12." Both the stun-gun offense in § 18-12-106.5 and the gas-gun offense in § 18-12-102 sit within Article 12, so that language reaches a stun gun and a gas gun on its face; no published Colorado appellate decision construes this phrase as applied to a stun gun specifically. A hand-held pepper spray canister, which is not a gas gun, falls outside Article 12 and outside this felon-possession bar.

Restricted places and penalties

Colorado's school, college, and university weapons statute, § 18-12-105.5(1)(a), bars knowingly and unlawfully carrying, bringing, or possessing, without legal authority, "a deadly weapon as defined in section 18-1-901(3)(e) that is not a firearm" on the real estate of any public or private elementary, middle, junior high, high, or vocational school, or any public or private college, university, or seminary; violating it is a class 6 felony. Colorado's general "deadly weapon" definition, § 18-1-901(3)(e), has two branches: "(I) A firearm, whether loaded or unloaded; or (II) A knife, bludgeon, or any other weapon, device, instrument, material, or substance, whether animate or inanimate, that, in the manner it is used or intended to be used, is capable of producing death or serious bodily injury." The first branch names only a firearm; the second is functional rather than a list of named items, and neither branch names a stun gun or pepper spray. Because § 18-12-105.5(1)(a) reaches only a deadly weapon "that is not a firearm," it is branch (II) that governs here, so whether a stun gun or pepper spray counts as a "deadly weapon" for this school-grounds felony depends on how it is used or intended to be used in a given case. The statute also carries exceptions: § 18-12-105.5(1)(a) itself exempts an authorized public demonstration, an employee's necessary duties, and participation in an authorized extracurricular activity or athletic team, and § 18-12-105.5(3) adds that it is not an offense if the weapon is unloaded and stays inside a vehicle on college or university property, if the person is in their own dwelling, place of business, or on property under their control, or if the person is carrying the weapon in a private automobile for lawful protection of a person or property while traveling. That private-vehicle exception covers the most common real case, a person with a spray canister or stun gun in a car on campus.

Colorado's Capitol-grounds statute, § 18-12-105(1)(c), separately makes it a class 1 misdemeanor to carry, bring, or possess, without legal authority, "any explosive, incendiary, or other dangerous device" on the property of or within any building housing the General Assembly's chambers, galleries, or offices, or where a legislative hearing or meeting is being conducted. The companion statute for that same location, § 18-12-105.3, names only a firearm, so § 18-12-105(1)(c)'s "other dangerous device" language is a functional test, the same kind of question as the school-grounds statute, rather than a list naming pepper spray or a stun gun. Section 18-12-105(2) exempts the whole section, including (1)(c), from applying to a person in their own dwelling, place of business, or on property under their control, and to a person in a private automobile or other private means of conveyance who carries a weapon for lawful protection while traveling, the same private-vehicle situation most likely to come up in practice.

Colorado sets no statutory minimum age to buy or possess pepper spray or a stun gun. Article 12's juvenile weapons provisions, § 18-12-108.5 and § 18-12-108.7, reach only a firearm: § 18-12-108.5(1)(a) bars a person under 18 from knowingly possessing "any handgun," and § 18-12-108.7's heading and subsection (3) extend to "providing a firearm other than a handgun to a juvenile" as well, so together the two sections cover firearms generally rather than a handgun alone. Neither reaches pepper spray or a stun gun.

No Colorado statute generally preempts a local government from regulating pepper spray or a stun gun by ordinance. Title 29, article 11.7, has expressly permitted rather than preempted local firearm regulation since a 2021 amendment: § 29-11.7-103(1) states, "Unless otherwise expressly prohibited pursuant to state law, a local government may enact an ordinance, regulation, or other law governing or prohibiting the sale, purchase, transfer, or possession of a firearm, ammunition, or firearm component or accessory," as long as it is not less restrictive than state law. That article reaches only a firearm, ammunition, or a firearm component or accessory; it contains no reference to a chemical spray or an electronic defense weapon, so a city or county ordinance addressing either device generally is not affected by it. A separate, narrower statute does reach both devices, though: § 18-12-105.6(2)(b) provides, "Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no municipality, county, or city and county shall have the authority to enact or enforce any ordinance or resolution that would restrict a person's ability to travel with a weapon in a private automobile or other private means of conveyance for hunting or for lawful protection of a person's or another's person or property while traveling into, through, or within, a municipal, county, or city and county jurisdiction," although the section is headed "Limitation on local ordinances regarding firearms in private vehicles." The word "weapon" in the operative text is not limited to a firearm, and § 18-12-105.6(2)(a) confirms that this kind of travel, "except as described in section 18-12-114.5, is not an offense." The only Colorado decision construing the section treated the operative text the same way: in Trinen v. City & County of Denver, 53 P.3d 754 (Colo. App. 2002), the Court of Appeals measured Denver ordinances reaching "any dangerous or deadly weapon" against section 18-12-105.6 and said the General Assembly "made clear it wanted only to limit, not eliminate, local ordinances regulating the carrying of weapons in private vehicles." Trinen also held that the phrase then in the statute, "into or through," left local ordinances free to reach travel wholly within one jurisdiction; the General Assembly amended subsection (2) in 2003 to read "into, through, or within," the text in force today. So while local governments can otherwise regulate pepper spray and stun guns, they cannot enforce an ordinance restricting a person from carrying either device in a private vehicle for lawful protection while traveling.

Penalties tied directly to a stun gun or a gas gun in Colorado are narrow and turn on the circumstances: unlawful use of a stun gun in the commission of a crime is a class 5 felony under § 18-12-106.5, knowing possession of a gas gun is a class 1 misdemeanor under § 18-12-102(4), and possession of either by a person with a qualifying prior felony conviction is a separate class 5 felony under § 18-12-108. There is no dedicated felony or misdemeanor penalty statute for a hand-held pepper spray canister in Colorado; misuse would ordinarily be charged, if at all, under general assault law rather than a device-specific offense. One narrow substance-specific provision does exist: § 18-4-513, "Criminal use of a noxious substance," makes it a civil infraction to deposit, without consent, "any stink bomb or device, irritant, or offensive-smelling substance" on another person's land, building, or vehicle with intent to interfere with their use or enjoyment of it, a description a pepper-spray discharge into someone's car or home could fit; a peace officer's reasonable use of a noxious substance in the performance of duty is an affirmative defense.

Federal law: what it does and does not reach

No federal statute regulates a civilian's purchase or possession of pepper spray or a stun gun. Federal law matters in three places.

Federal buildings. Under 18 U.S.C. § 930(a), whoever knowingly possesses or causes to be present "a firearm or other dangerous weapon in a Federal facility (other than a Federal court facility)" faces a fine, imprisonment of up to 1 year, or both. Subsection (e) sets up to 2 years for a federal court facility, and subsection (b) up to 5 years where the weapon is intended to be used in a crime. Section 930(g)(2) defines the term:

The term "dangerous weapon" means a weapon, device, instrument, material, or substance, animate or inanimate, that is used for, or is readily capable of, causing death or serious bodily injury, except that such term does not include a pocket knife with a blade of less than 2½ inches in length.

The definition names neither device. Whether a particular spray or stun gun is "readily capable of" causing serious bodily injury is a question of fact the statute does not answer. Subsection (d)(3) exempts "the lawful carrying of firearms or other dangerous weapons in a Federal facility incident to hunting or other lawful purposes," and subsection (h) requires notice of the ban to be posted at each public entrance. A "Federal facility" is "a building or part thereof owned or leased by the Federal Government, where Federal employees are regularly present for the purpose of performing their official duties."

Air travel. The Transportation Security Administration's screening rules, which are agency policy rather than statute, bar both devices from carry-on bags. One 4 fl. oz. (118 ml) container of mace or pepper spray is permitted in checked baggage if it has a safety mechanism to prevent accidental discharge, and sprays containing more than 2 percent by mass of tear gas (CS or CN) are prohibited in checked baggage. Tasers, stun guns and other electro-shock weapons may travel in checked baggage only if transported so the device cannot discharge accidentally. Airlines may set stricter rules.

National parks. National Park Service regulations prohibit possessing, carrying or using a "weapon" in a park area except as the regulations provide (36 CFR 2.4(b)(1)). 36 CFR 1.4 defines "weapon" to include an "irritant gas device" and any "weapon the possession of which is prohibited under the laws of the State in which the park area or portion thereof is located."

Disclaimer: This article provides general legal information about Colorado's pepper spray and stun gun laws as of September 2026. It is not legal advice. Consult a lawyer licensed in Colorado for advice about a specific situation.

For a state-by-state comparison, see pepper spray and stun gun laws by state. Colorado's self-defense statutes are covered separately on the Colorado self-defense laws page.

Statutes cited are current through the 2026 session. Last updated: 2026-09-22.