How many states is it illegal to throw snowballs?
Executive summary
No U.S. state has a blanket, statewide ban on throwing snowballs, but local laws in multiple states make snowball-throwing illegal or restricted in particular cities, towns or under specific circumstances such as throwing at vehicles; reporting shows ordinances in Colorado, Wisconsin, Utah, Rhode Island and elsewhere, but available sources do not provide a comprehensive national count [1] [2] [3] [4]. The short answer: zero states outlaw snowball-throwing statewide, though many municipalities across several states do [1] [5].
1. The legal landscape in one sentence: no statewide bans, many municipal ones
There is no evidence in the provided reporting that any state legislature has enacted a statewide prohibition on throwing snowballs; instead, the restrictions unearthed by news outlets and legal summaries are municipal ordinances embedded in city and town codes—so the prohibition is local, not state-level [1] [2].
2. Where reporting finds the bans: Colorado, Wisconsin, Utah, Rhode Island and more
Local ordinances cited by multiple outlets show that towns in Colorado (examples include Leadville, Loveland, Louisville, Keenesburg, Severance [recently changed], and others) have rules treating snowballs as “missiles” or banning them in public places, and Colorado-focused legal summaries map a patchwork of municipal rules rather than a statewide ban [2] [6] [7] [8]. In Wisconsin the city of Wausau’s 1962 ordinance — prohibiting throwing “arrows, stones and other missiles,” specifically naming snowballs — drew national attention and prompted some towns to consider rescinding or amending the language [3] [5] [9]. Utah reporting highlights a Provo ordinance that criminalizes throwing “stone, stick, snowball” within city limits and carries fines or misdemeanor exposure [10] [11]. Rhode Island coverage notes several municipalities that specifically ban snowball-throwing and points out that state law in at least one instance forbids throwing snowballs at moving cars, a narrowly tailored state prohibition tied to public safety [4].
3. What “illegal” typically means in these cases
When municipalities ban snowball-throwing they usually do so by treating snowballs as projectiles within broader “weapons” or “peace and safety” chapters of city codes, or by outlawing throwing things that could injure people or damage property; enforcement is sporadic and penalties range from small fines to misdemeanors, with officials often emphasizing the public-safety rationale rather than a desire to stop harmless play [2] [5] [9] [10].
4. Notable exceptions and recent reversals
Some local prohibitions have been rolled back or narrowed after public pushback: Severance, Colorado famously repealed a century-old ban after local advocacy, and Wausau officials have publicly debated or moved to remove explicit “snowball” language while keeping broader projectile prohibitions in place—illustrating that many of these rules are relics or public-safety catchalls rather than active, aggressive enforcement targets [6] [9] [5].
5. Why an exact national count isn’t possible from these sources
The sources document specific municipal ordinances and highlight states with clusters of bans, but none provide an authoritative, nationwide inventory of every local code; multiple reporters explicitly note that states don’t “band” snowball fights and that the reality is a patchwork of city and town rules, so the reporting cannot produce a definitive number of states where any snowball-throwing is illegal at some local level [1] [4]. Thus the defensible factual claim is that zero states have statewide blanket bans, while many municipalities across several states do; compiling a precise count of states with at least one municipal prohibition would require a comprehensive survey of local codes beyond the scope of the cited reporting [1] [2] [3].