No tattoos on Sundays? Outdated Columbus law could change soon

Columbus Council Tuesday night will consider deleting an “antiquated” local law that prohibits the act of tattooing on Sundays or Sabbath days.

The change was sparked by the scheduling of the region’s first large tattoo convention set to occupy the Columbus Convention and trade center in January.

Council will consider removing the ordinance, located in Sec. 14-60.3 of the city code, which applies to any “person, individual or firm.”

According to the ordinance, it’s unlawful for any of those entities to “conduct the business of tattooing or marking or coloring the skin by pricking in coloring matter so as to form marks or figures or scars on any portion of the body of any individual on Sunday or the Sabbath days.”

District 8 Councilor Walker Garrett said the Columbus Tattoo Expo, which will feature artists doing tattoos on-site throughout the entire weekend January 10-12, prompted his proposal to change the ordinance.

“It is my understanding that the local parlors already operate on Sundays and this law hasn’t been enforced, but I thought it was better to change an antiquated law then to risk affecting a major convention coming to Columbus,” Garrett said in an email.

The expo is put on by Tattoo Frontier Community Convention and sponsored by Chattahoochee Harley-Davidson. Tickets are on sale now on the event page.

No tattooing on Sundays is not the only strange or outdated law that Columbus has on the books. Other weird things that are illegal in Columbus include the use of a slingshot, wearing a hat in a movie theater and using vulgar language on a telephone.

Tuesday night will be the first reading of the ordinance change by Columbus Council.