Disorderly Conduct is charged in Fort Collins and Larimer County for various different actions. One of those actions is related to deadly weapons. Displaying a deadly weapon or discharging a firearm in a public place can easily result in Disorderly Conduct charges. But what happens if the deadly weapon is actually just a toy gun? Well, it can still result in these charges. Recently, a 14-year-old boy was arrested and charged with this crime after neighbors called to report him. According to the report, neighbors saw him sticking out of a van sunroof holding what they thought was an automatic rifle. After law enforcement responded, they located the boy and found a realistic looking toy rifle.
Larimer County Disorderly Conduct Lawyer: Definition of Toy Gun Disorderly Conduct in Colorado
The Larimer County, Colorado law definition of Disorderly Conduct – C.R.S. 18-9-106 – is:
(a) Makes a coarse and obviously offensive utterance, gesture, or display in a public place and the utterance, gesture, or display tends to incite an immediate breach of the peace; or
(b) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2000, p. 708, § 39, effective July 1, 2000.)
(c) Makes unreasonable noise in a public place or near a private residence that he has no right to occupy; or
(d) Fights with another in a public place except in an amateur or professional contest of athletic skill; or
(e) Not being a peace officer, discharges a firearm in a public place except when engaged in lawful target practice or hunting or the ritual discharge of blank ammunition cartridges as an attendee at a funeral for a deceased person who was a veteran of the armed forces of the United States; or
(f) Not being a peace officer, displays a deadly weapon, displays any article used or fashioned in a manner to cause a person to reasonably believe that the article is a deadly weapon, or represents verbally or otherwise that he or she is armed with a deadly weapon in a public place in a manner calculated to alarm.
Likely, the boy was charged under subsection (f) for displaying a deadly weapon. Even though it was just a toy gun, it was apparently realistic looking enough that it would cause the neighbors to think he was handling a real gun. It’s very lucky that none of the neighbors felt their lives were being threatened, because the boy easily could have been charged with felony Menacing.
Sentence for Disorderly Conduct in Loveland and Estes Park
In Fort Collins Loveland and Estes Park, a Disorderly Conduct charged under subsection (f) is a class 2 misdemeanor. This level misdemeanor is punishable by 90 to 364 days in the Larimer County Jail and up to $1,000 in fines.