Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
A Colorado judge has ruled against the City of Boulder's anti-gun ordinance, bringing praise from Second Amendment advocates and criticism from gun-control activists.
The ordinance, unanimously passed in April 2018 after its first reading, made illegal the possession, sale, or transfer of semi-automatic, magazine-fed sporting rifles, pistols, and ammunition magazines that can hold more than ten rounds.
Alan Gottlieb of Second Amendment Foundation calls it a great ruling from Judge Andrew Hartman, who was appointed to the bench by former Democratic Governor John Hicklenlooper.
Gottlieb
"It was based on the state pre-emption law that cities and towns can't pass gun-control laws that are stricter than the state or federal government," Gottlieb explains. "Boulder tried to rely on a previous ruling that supported a gun ban in Denver that subsequently … bit the dust because of two other state Supreme Court rulings in other areas that overturned Denver's having the authority to get around the state's pre-emption laws."
Gottlieb also applauds Hartman's ruling for citing his organization's McDonald v. Chicago lawsuit. "That [lawsuit] incorporated the Second Amendment through the Fourteenth Amendment, making it applicable to all states and cities that you have an individual constitutional right to own a firearm," he tells One News Now.
Colorado Ceasefire expressed its disappointment with the decision involving Boulder.
"Assault weapons have been the source of horrendous tragedies here in Colorado and across the nation," says Eileen McCarron, president of Colorado Ceasefire Legislative Action. "Clearly, residents of Boulder do not want these weapons of war in their city, [and] this ruling illustrates that the 2003 pre-emption statute is not serving the people of Boulder, nor other communities across the state."
McCarron adds that cities and counties know best what public safety ordinances are appropriate for their neighborhoods. "Unfortunately, pre-emption limits their abilities to adequately serve their communities," she adds.
The Boulder case was brought by two residents and the Colorado-based Independence Institute.