The Denver Gazette reports that three Denver residents, the Firearms Policy Coalition, and the Colorado State Shooting Association have filed a federal lawsuit challenging Denver’s so-called “assault weapon” restrictions and bans on ammunition magazines holding 15 rounds or more. The complaint names Denver, Gov. Jared Polis, Attorney General Phil Weiser, Colorado Bureau of Investigation Director Armando Saldate III, Colorado State Patrol Chief Col. Matthew Packard, and Denver District Attorney John Walsh.
The lawsuit is not a ruling. Nobody won yet. But it does put a clean constitutional question in front of the courts: do local and state officials get to take firearms commonly owned by law-abiding citizens, slap a scary label on them, and call the Second Amendment satisfied because the press conference looked serious?
The Denver Gazette’s photo shows Mayor Mike Johnston surrounded by city officials in May as Denver pushed back on the Trump administration’s demand that the city repeal its longtime ban. That image is basically the whole fight in one frame: politicians at a podium, citizens in the crosshairs, and the Constitution waiting in the hallway with a lawyer.
The Bullet Point Brief
- The lawsuit challenges Denver’s firearm restrictions and magazine bans. Plaintiffs argue the city’s semiautomatic firearm ban and limits on magazines holding 15 rounds or more violate the Second Amendment.
- The plaintiffs say these firearms and magazines are commonly possessed. That matters because gun-rights groups argue commonly owned arms cannot be banned as “dangerous and unusual.” Denver says otherwise. Congratulations, everyone, we have a lawsuit.
- Denver officials are digging in. Mayor Johnston said the city will fight to keep “assault weapons” off Denver streets, while city officials argue the ordinance is constitutional and necessary for public safety.
- The language game is doing heavy lifting. “Assault weapon” sounds precise, but it is usually political marketing dressed up in legal shoes. Say it with enough dramatic lighting and suddenly ordinary citizens become suspects.
- This is not a victory lap for either side. Lawsuits are vehicles, not verdicts. The court still has to sort out the claims, the precedent, and whether public safety theater can bulldoze an enumerated right.
My Bottom Line
Ordinary citizens are tired of being treated like criminals in waiting because politicians need a prop for the evening news. Own the wrong rifle, attach the wrong magazine, live in the wrong city, and suddenly your constitutional rights become a zoning problem with better branding.
Public safety matters. Of course it does. But public safety is not a magic phrase that lets government rewrite the Bill of Rights with a Sharpie. The Second Amendment is not a second-class right that local officials get to tolerate only when it stays politically convenient, decorative, and safely unloaded.
Denver wants local control when it means defending its preferred restrictions. State officials want authority when it means backing the same agenda from above. Funny how “rights” become sacred right up until citizens use one the governing class dislikes. Then suddenly the lectures begin, the podiums appear, and every common firearm gets renamed like it escaped from a summer blockbuster.
So let the courts do their job. No victory laps. No predictions carved into granite. But this case is a reminder that constitutional government is supposed to restrain fear-driven lawmaking, not decorate it. If politicians want safer streets, they should prosecute criminals, back cops, fix broken systems, and stop pretending that rebranding common firearms as scary contraband counts as courage.
Source: The Denver Gazette
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