We touched on this back in 2018. Boulder, Colorado was pushing to ban owning AR-15 rifles. They’re commonly owned. Millions are in circulation—and they’re not scary. For liberals, it makes them wet their pants, but it’s become one of the main targets for anti-gun progressives in recent years. You all know this; liberals need a boogeyman to build a narrative. This rifle was it, though they’ve failed miserably in trying to get their agenda items enforced. And yes, I’m sure there were plenty of AR-15-owning Democrats who scoffed at Boulder’s assault on Second Amendment freedoms.
Now, a Colorado judge has tossed the AR-15 ban in the trash bin, along with the provision prohibiting ownership of magazines that carry more than 10 rounds. That’s the backdoor gun ban right there. It’s not just about the rifle. It’s about curbing constitutional gun rights by these magazine laws. A host of firearms that aren’t AR-15 rifles have magazines with more than 10 rounds. This law would effectively ban them too. We all see what you’re doing here, liberal America (via Free Beacon):
A judge struck down Boulder, Colorado's ban on the possession of AR-15s and magazines holding more than 10 rounds on Monday.
Colorado state judge Andrew Hartman ruled the city's gun ban violated the state's preemption law, which prevents localities from imposing gun regulations above and beyond state law. Judge Hartman's ruling declares the ordinance invalid and immediately bars the city from enforcing the ban.
"The Court has determined that only Colorado state (or federal) law can prohibit the possession, sale, and transfer of assault weapons and large capacity magazines," Hartman wrote in the ruling.
The ruling is the latest in a string of victories for gun advocates who have used state preemption laws to overturn strict local gun regulations. A Washington court struck down a local ordinance on gun storage in February 2021, and a Pennsylvania court struck down Pittsburgh's attempt to regulate the use of AR-15s inside city limits in October 2019.
Jon Caldara, a longtime Boulder resident who openly flouted the AR-15 ban, said he was "thrilled" by the ruling. The former Denver Post columnist and Independence Institute president publicly announced he would not comply with the order to turn over his AR-15 or ammunition magazines when the ban was instituted in 2019. He filed a separate federal suit against the ordinance and said his family has received backlash from supporters ever since.
"I was probably the most publicly known criminal in Boulder," he told the Washington Free Beacon. "That made us social outcasts. And it was really bad. My daughter got bullied at school for our position."
Our Second Amendment rights, as with the others enshrined in the Bill of Rights, are always under threat by the government or unhinged liberals. If it isn’t the Second Amendment being targeted, it’s free speech rights, which are being curbed across America at an alarming rate through these political correctness codes enforced by the woke mob. Right now, local judges are the best ways to fight back until the Supreme Court gets more involved with gun rights. For years, SCOTUS has been asleep at the switch on this front. We hope that changes with Trump’s three appointees on the Court and with his overall overhaul of the federal judiciary over the past three years. For now, we have a solid win in Colorado. It’s a local one, but a win is a win. Let’s keep stacking them. Stay alert.
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