Laser jammers: Colorado's ban makes it a totalitarian state, says Wired's Mr. Know-It-All | The Latest Word | Denver | Denver Westword | The Leading Independent News Source in Denver, Colorado
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Laser jammers: Colorado's ban makes it a totalitarian state, says Wired's Mr. Know-It-All

Is Colorado a "totalitarian state" when it comes to laser jammers? Wired columnist Mr. Know-It-All concedes that "Colorado isn't quite on par with, say, North Korea" in a piece for the magazine's May edition. However, he continues, "state legislators might have been Kim Jong-illin' a little when they wrote their...
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Is Colorado a "totalitarian state" when it comes to laser jammers?

Wired columnist Mr. Know-It-All concedes that "Colorado isn't quite on par with, say, North Korea" in a piece for the magazine's May edition.

However, he continues, "state legislators might have been Kim Jong-illin' a little when they wrote their anti-laser-jammer statute (one of only nine in the country), which forbids the mere possession of such devices, to say nothing of their use or sale. If a cop spies your jammer, he has the right to confiscate it."

Which only goes to prove that "federalism's a bitch."

The laser-jammer subject, raised by a Wyoming resident wondering if he must stow his ticket-avoiding device as soon as he crosses the state line into the "totalitarian nightmare" that is Colorado, prompts Mr. Know-It-All to quiz Jim Baxter, president of the National Motorists Association, who thinks the ban could be vulnerable to a court challenge.

Not that such a lawsuit is in the offing as far as Mr. Know-It-All has heard. But he likes the idea.

"Any interest in pressing your luck on Colorado's highways and then seeing the case through years of appeals, all to avoid the minor hassle of hiding your jammer?" he asks. "We're behind you!"

Until then, Wyomingites, you might want to ditch that jammer 'til you get back home -- or else risk the wrath of shock troops in the Pyongyang of the Rockies.

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