District Judge Had Just Blocked Boulder's Gun Ban

[DrSchadenfreude]

Can Colorado cities enact their own gun restrictions? A Boulder judge says no.

New ruling could lead Colorado Supreme Court to settle the question

www.denverpost.com/2021/03/18/boulder-colorado-assault-weapon-ban-order/


March 18, 2021

A judge blocked Boulder from enforcing its 2-year-old ban on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines in the city, setting up the chance for the state Supreme Court to review whether Colorado cities can create their own restrictions on gun ownership.



Boulder County District Court Judge Andrew Hartman ruled Friday that the city can’t enforce its ordinance banning the possession, transfer or sale of assault weapons and large-capacity magazines because state law says local governments can’t prohibit the possession or sale of firearms.



“These provisions are invalid, and enforcement of them is enjoined,” Hartman wrote in his ruling. “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.”



Boulder city attorneys will meet with outside counsel this week to decide how to move forward and whether they will appeal Hartman’s decision, city spokeswoman Shannon Aulabaugh said. The Boulder Police Department will not enforce the ordinance unless there is a later court ruling undoing Hartman’s decision, she said.



If the case reaches the Colorado Supreme Court, justices there could for the first time issue a statewide ruling on whether local governments can pass more restrictive gun laws than those in state statute.



But lawyers look at more than just the facts of a case before deciding whether to take it to the highest court — they also look at the timing and the political climate, said Robert Wareham, a Highlands Ranch attorney who works in gun law.



“There are many of us looking for the ideal case to bring again,” Wareham said.



The Boulder City Council in 2018 passed two ordinances banning the possession of assault weapons and large-capacity magazines in the wake of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Flordia, that left 17 people dead.



The city defined large-capacity magazines as “any ammunition-feeding device with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds.” The assault weapon ban includes certain pistols and semi-automatic rifles with pistol grips, a folding or telescoping stock, or any protruding grip that allows a weapon to be stabilized with the non-trigger hand.



The council created a permit system for people who owned such a gun prior to the ordinance, allowing them to legally keep the weapons. People breaking the ordinance could face fines of up to $1,000 and up to 90 days in jail.



The decision spurred swift litigation at both the local and federal levels.



Two Boulder residents, the Colorado State Shooting Association and Boulder-based Gunsport of Colorado sued the city in the county’s district court, alleging the new ordinances violated Colorado law that says gun regulation is a matter of state and federal, not local, concern.



The state law, passed in 2003, states “a local government may not enact an ordinance, regulation or other law that prohibits the sale, purchase or possession of a firearm that a person may lawfully sell, purchase or possess under state or federal law.”



“Inconsistency among local governments of laws regulating the possession and ownership of firearms results in persons being treated differently under the law solely on the basis of where they reside, and a person’s residence in a particular county or city or city and county is not a rational classification when it is the basis for denial of equal treatment under the law,” the law states.



Attorneys for the city argued that Boulder had the right to pass the ordinance because it is a home-rule municipality and that the ordinance was necessary because of a lack of rules on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines at the state level. The judge disagreed, pointing to the list of weapons that are deemed illegal or dangerous by the state. The state did not include assault weapons and defined large-capacity magazines as having more than 15 rounds.



“The city of Boulder’s assault weapons and (large-capacity magazine) ban could create a ripple effect across the state by encouraging other municipalities to enact their own bans, ultimately leading to a statewide de facto ban or to a patchwork of municipal laws regulating assault weapons and LCMs,” Hartman wrote in his order.



An attorney for the plaintiffs did not respond Wednesday to an email requesting an interview.



Hartman’s ruling caused supporters of gun regulation to call on the state legislature to repeal the 2003 law. Eileen McCarron of Colorado Ceasefire said the group was disappointed by the judge’s ruling.



“Cities and counties know best whether certain weapons are inappropriate in their neighborhoods,” she said.



McCarron pointed to a previous ruling in Denver District Court that allowed Denver’s assault weapons ban to stand.



The city government of Denver sued the state in 2003, arguing that the newly-passed legislation banning local governments from regulating firearm possession and sales was unconstitutional because it violated the rights of home-rule cities to pass ordinances. But the district court found that Denver had unique circumstances, like increased use of assault weapons and a rising homicide rate, that meant it should be able to decide whether to ban assault weapons. The judge also noted Denver’s ban had been in place since 1989.


But there are also key differences between the Denver and the Boulder bans, including when they were enacted and the types of communities they cover, Wareham said. It’s unclear how the court’s view of the Boulder ordinance would vary from their thoughts on Denver’s.



Meanwhile, another lawsuit about the Boulder ordinance is on pause as a federal judge waits for the state courts to rule on the issue. A coalition of businesses and individuals sued the city in federal court the day after it passed the ban, but the case is stalled until there’s a decision in the state court, said Cody Wisniewski, director of Mountain State Legal Foundation’s Center to Keep and Bear Arms and lead attorney for the plaintiffs.



“We’ll be keeping a close eye on how the case proceeds,” he said.

[dilligaf]

Is it legal to murder people in Boulder?
I guess I missed that law.

[DrSchadenfreude]

Mar 22, 2021 21:57:26 GMT -5 dilligaf said:

Is it legal to murder people in Boulder?
I guess I missed that law.

It's easy.  Republicons and the NRA keep blocking efforts at gun control in the U.S.

[DrSchadenfreude]

I scooped the Washington Post's front page story today by 10 hours-- right here in Wally World...  



Boulder’s assault weapons ban, meant to stop mass shootings, was blocked 10 days before grocery store attack

www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/23/guns-boulder-shooting-assault-weapons-ban/


March 23, 2021

The city of Boulder, Colo., barred assault weapons in 2018, as a way to prevent mass shootings like the one that killed 17 at a high school in Parkland., Fla., earlier that year.



But 10 days after that ban was blocked in court, the city was rocked by its own tragedy: Ten people, including a Boulder police officer, were killed at a supermarket in the city’s south end on Monday after a gunman opened fire, law enforcement officials said.



As of early Tuesday, police have yet to identify the suspect or release any details about his weapon, how he purchased it or if the ordinance would have prevented him from buying or possessing the weapon within city limits. Police told the Denver Post and CNN that he was reported to have been carrying a rifle.



Boulder shooting: 10 people killed, including police officer; suspect in custody



Yet, for Dawn Reinfeld, co-founder of the Colorado gun violence prevention group Blue Rising, the “appalling” timing of the court decision was hard to ignore.


“We tried to protect our city,” she told The Washington Post. “It’s so tragic to see the legislation struck down, and days later, to have our city experience exactly what we were trying to prevent.”



Rachel Friend, a city council member, made a similar observation on Twitter, adding she was “heartsick and angry and mostly so, so sad.”



But the Colorado State Shooting Association, one of the plaintiffs that sued Boulder over the assault weapons ban, rejected that sentiment, arguing in a statement that “emotional sensationalism” about gun laws would cloud remembrance of the victims.



“There will be a time for the debate on gun laws. There will be a time for the discussion on motives. There will be a time for a conversation on how this could have been prevented,” the group said in a statement. “But today is not the time.”


The three-year court fight over Boulder’s ordinance seems likely to preview a similar public debate over whether new gun control measures are warranted after the latest attack in a part of the country that has seen many such incidents, with several politicians already calling for legislative responses on Monday.



The North Central region of Colorado has seen as many as nine school shootings since the Columbine massacre in 1999, which left 12 students and a teacher dead. Four other major shootings have occurred within 20 miles of the high school, including a 2012 shooting at a movie theater in Aurora that left 12 dead.



The earliest of those incidents, as well as the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida in 2018, pushed Boulder officials to take action. Some said they wanted to prevent a similar massacre from occurring again.


“I hope and pray we never have a mass shooting in Boulder,” City Attorney Tom Carr told the Daily Camera in March 2018. “What this ordinance is about is reducing, on the margins, the ease with which somebody could do that.”



With unanimous support from the council, the law banned the possession, transfer and sale of most shotguns and certain pistols and semiautomatic rifles with pistol grips, a thumbhole stock, or any protruding grip that allows a weapon to be stabilized with the non-trigger hand.



It also established a permit system for people who had previously owned any of those guns and banned large-capacity magazines, which it defined as “any ammunition-feeding device with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds.”



“If you look at most of the mass shootings, the guns were purchased legally,” Carr said. “I see this as an ordinance that throws in one more barrier to someone who’s contemplating such a horrible act.”


While city officials had acknowledged the law faced likely legal challenges, they pointed to the city’s home-rule provisions as well as its history of trailblazing on liberal issues, like the issuance of same-sex marriage licenses.



With few steps taken by state or federal government officials, “we had to start somewhere,” Reinfeld said. “When there continues to be mass shootings, when do we take a stand?”


The ordinance generated vigorous opposition from gun rights activists across the state. On the day of the vote, advocates from around Colorado descended on Boulder, many of them carrying concealed rifles with them into city government buildings.



A month after it passed, the law was challenged in state district court by two Boulder residents, a local gun shop and the Colorado State Shooting Association, according to the Denver Post. Richard A. Westfall, the residents’ attorney, did not immediately respond to a message from The Post early on Tuesday.


On March 12, Boulder County District Judge Andrew Hartman sided with the plaintiffs, saying that, according to a 2003 Colorado state law, cities and counties cannot restrict guns that are otherwise legal under federal and state law.



The “need for statewide uniformity favors the state’s interest in regulating assault weapons,” Hartman wrote. He said Boulder’s ordinance “could create a ripple effect across the state” by encouraging other municipalities to pass their own bans.



The National Rifle Association cheered the ruling on Twitter last week, noting that its lobbying arm had supported the lawsuit against the ban.



ICYMI: A Colorado judge gave law-abiding gun owners something to celebrate.



In an @nraila-supported case, he ruled that the city of Boulder’s ban on commonly-owned rifles (AR-15s) and 10+ round mags was preempted by state law and STRUCK THEM DOWN. t.co/wmdhGG16pc



— NRA (@nra) March 16, 2021

The day after Hartman’s ruling, city officials instructed Boulder police to stop enforcing the ban. Carr, the city attorney, declined to comment on whether he planned to appeal the decision.



AD

But in the wake of the Boulder shooting, gun violence prevention advocates said the importance of preserving such a ban had only become more evident.



Colorado State Rep. Tom Sullivan (D), who ran for office after his son Alex was killed in the Aurora movie theater shooting, said he helped lobby the statehouse in Denver for background checks and magazine limits. Neither Congress nor the state legislature, he noted, had the political capital to go as far as Boulder City Council.



“The assault weapons put the ‘mass’ in the ‘shootings,’ " he told The Post. “That’s what gets the numbers up. That’s what gets the assault weapons that were able to fire as many rounds as were fired … in the theater, in the schools, in Parkland.”

[DrSchadenfreude]

Court order lifting Boulder assault weapons ban scrutinized after shooting

thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/544559-court-order-lifting-boulder-assault-weapons-ban-scrutinized-after


March 23, 2021

A Colorado judge’s decision earlier this month to block an assault weapons ban in Boulder, Colo. is facing scrutiny after gun control advocates drew fresh attention to the court ruling following a shooting on Monday at a Boulder grocery store that left 10 dead.

In a 22-page opinion, Colorado state court Judge Andrew Hartman on March 12 invalidated the city’s 2018 assault weapons ban, ruling that Boulder had unlawfully encroached on the state’s power to regulate firearms.

Several days after the ruling, suspect Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa allegedly purchased one of the guns involved in the deadly shooting, according to an arrest warrant.

It was not immediately clear whether the suspect would have been stopped from buying the gun had the judge allowed the assault weapons ban to stand. Law enforcement officials did not reply to requests for comment, citing the ongoing investigation, and a spokesperson for city of Boulder was not immediately available for comment.

Gun control advocates who said the deadly rampage was only the latest evidence of the need for stronger gun laws pointed to Hartman’s ruling as a sign that the country was moving in the wrong direction.

The plaintiffs in the case, two Boulder residents, were backed by the National Rifle Association (NRA) in their challenge to the city’s assault weapons ban.

“A week ago, the NRA celebrated a judge blocking Boulder from enforcing its two-year-old assault rifle ban,” the Democratic-led Senate Judiciary Committee said on Twitter. “Within a week, at least ten Americans lost their lives at the hands of gun violence in Boulder,” the lawmakers added. “When will Republicans stop letting the NRA dictate federal policy?”

The NRA did not respond to a request for comment.

President Biden on Tuesday called on Congress to pass a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and urged lawmakers to close loopholes in gun background checks.

“I don’t need to wait another minute, let alone an hour, to take common sense steps that will save lives in the future and to urge my colleagues in the House and Senate to act,” Biden said at the White House following the shooting.

“We can ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in this country once again. I got that done when I was a senator. … We should do it again,” he added.

Biden called on the Senate to “immediately pass” two gun control bills the House passed on March 11, which were backed by few Republicans. The bills would strengthen background checks on firearms sales and transfers.

The renewed focus on gun control legislation comes after the shooting at the King Soopers grocery store in Boulder claimed the lives of 10 people, including a Boulder police officer.

According to an arrest warrant, Alissa, 21, had been armed with a rifle, a semiautomatic handgun and a green tactical vest.

Investigators determined that Alissa bought one of the weapons — a Ruger AR-556 pistol — on March 16, according to an affidavit filed in support of his arrest warrant. The police records did not say where the weapon was purchased.

Feinstein calls for assault weapon ban after Boulder shooting

California public radio news director loses father in Boulder shooting

Alissa faces 10 counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.

Fred Guttenberg, a gun control advocate whose daughter was killed during the 2018 shooting at a Parkland, Fla., high school called the gun violence in Boulder “predictable & preventable.”

“Boulder had passed an ordinance banning assault style weapons. Six days ago, the NRA blocked that law from enforcement through a lawsuit,” he wrote on Twitter. “They called it Victory in Colorado.”

[AlaCowboy]

Mar 22, 2021 21:57:26 GMT -5 dilligaf said:

Is it legal to murder people in Boulder?
I guess I missed that law.

The FDFD, aka The Denver Idiot, believes state law should supersede federal law. Conversely, he thinks state law requiring voter ID should then be superseded by federal law.

[dilligaf]

Mar 23, 2021 18:09:06 GMT -5 AlaCowboy said:

Mar 22, 2021 21:57:26 GMT -5 dilligaf said:

Is it legal to murder people in Boulder?
I guess I missed that law.

The FDFD, aka The Denver Idiot, believes state law should supersede federal law. Conversely, he thinks state law requiring voter ID should then be superseded by federal law.

It doesn't matter what method is used.
Murder is illegal.    Demoncrats can't grasp that fact.

[DrSchadenfreude]

Boulder shooting suspect’s gun would’ve been illegal under city’s now-void assault-weapon ban

The 2018 ban was never enforced and allowed people to keep banned weapons in their cars

www.denverpost.com/2021/03/23/boulder-shooting-gun-ruger-ar-556/


March 24, 2021

A gun used by a man suspected of shooting and killing 10 people at a Boulder King Soopers would have been illegal under the city’s assault weapon ban that was recently blocked by a judge, though nobody ever had been cited under the ban while it was active.

The suspect purchased a Ruger AR-556 pistol on March 16, six days before the mass killing, according to his arrest affidavit. Police recovered a rifle and a handgun inside the grocery store next to the tactical vest believed to be worn by the suspect, according to the affidavit, though it’s not clear whether the Ruger gun is the handgun or the rifle referenced in the document.

The Ruger AR-556 pistol is not technically a rifle, though many features of its design echo a rifle’s set-up.

“It’s not a sporting rifle, it’s not a hunting rifle,” said Joseph Vince, a professor at Mount St. Mary’s University who worked as a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent for more than 30 years. “It’s made for the military and short-range combat.”

The gun comes in two barrel lengths — either 9.5 or 10.5 inches — that are both shorter than the 12-inch definition of a handgun under Colorado law. The gun also has a brace on the back, which allows users to hold the gun against their shoulder for stabilization. Users can also equip a scope and, unlike many other pistols, ammunition is fed to the gun through a detachable magazine that is separate from the pistol’s grip.

It can be fitted with magazines of various capacities, and some retailers sell a Colorado-specific version of the gun that comes with a magazine that holds fewer than 15 rounds. State law bans magazines that hold more than 15 rounds. It’s unclear what kind of magazine the King Soopers suspect purchased.

A Ruger employee said in a video posted to a popular Youtube channel for gun owners that the pistol is “great for all the applications of a pistol or a rifle.” The gun has many of the advantages of a rifle while falling under regulations for a pistol, Vince said.

A gun like the Ruger AR-556 pistol was banned in Boulder until March 12, when a Boulder County District Court judge ruled the city’s ban on assault weapons and magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds was illegal. The city’s definition of prohibited assault weapons included semi-automatic pistols that can accept a magazine outside of the pistol grip.

The ruling means that the ban has been unenforceable since March 12, but Boulder police did not issue any citations under the ban during the two years it was in place, according to records received by The Denver Post after filing a public records request. The ordinance also allowed people to keep a banned weapon in their car while traveling in the city.

The city’s ban was put in place in 2018 in the wake of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 people dead. The judge ruled that state law forbidding local governments from passing gun regulations outranked the city’s powers as a home-rule municipality. City officials have not said whether they’ll challenge the ruling.

[dilligaf]

Murder, Manslaughter, and Criminally Negligent Homicide
by Colorado Criminal Defense Lawyer – H. Michael Steinberg – Violent Crimes – Homicide Crimes Criminal Defense Law Firm

In Colorado, Crimes involving Homicide take many forms. What follows are the statutes and then their “constituent elements.” The elements are the form of the statute (law) that goes to the jury at the end of the jury trial. The jury instructions break down the crime into a formula that assists the jury in understanding whether the Prosecution has proven the charge beyond a reasonable doubt.

Well, what do you know ...................   MURDER IS ILLEGAL IN COLORADO.

That law didn't stop anybody from killing, did it?

CRIMINALS DO NOT OBEY THE LAW

[AlaCowboy]

Mar 24, 2021 9:35:52 GMT -5 dilligaf said:

Murder, Manslaughter, and Criminally Negligent Homicide
by Colorado Criminal Defense Lawyer – H. Michael Steinberg – Violent Crimes – Homicide Crimes Criminal Defense Law Firm

In Colorado, Crimes involving Homicide take many forms. What follows are the statutes and then their “constituent elements.” The elements are the form of the statute (law) that goes to the jury at the end of the jury trial. The jury instructions break down the crime into a formula that assists the jury in understanding whether the Prosecution has proven the charge beyond a reasonable doubt.

Well, what do you know ...................   MURDER IS ILLEGAL IN COLORADO.

That law didn't stop anybody from killing, did it?

CRIMINALS DO NOT OBEY THE LAW

They didn't have a SAFE ZONE sign at the entrance?

[DrSchadenfreude]

Mar 24, 2021 9:35:52 GMT -5 dilligaf said:

Murder, Manslaughter, and Criminally Negligent Homicide
by Colorado Criminal Defense Lawyer – H. Michael Steinberg – Violent Crimes – Homicide Crimes Criminal Defense Law Firm

In Colorado, Crimes involving Homicide take many forms. What follows are the statutes and then their “constituent elements.” The elements are the form of the statute (law) that goes to the jury at the end of the jury trial. The jury instructions break down the crime into a formula that assists the jury in understanding whether the Prosecution has proven the charge beyond a reasonable doubt.

Well, what do you know ...................   MURDER IS ILLEGAL IN COLORADO.

That law didn't stop anybody from killing, did it?

CRIMINALS DO NOT OBEY THE LAW

Newsflash.  Psychotic people don't always obey the law either, especially when they hear voices and think people are out to get them.

So why do you Republicons think they should be allowed to easily buy guns in the U.S.?

[dilligaf]

Mar 24, 2021 14:11:37 GMT -5 AlaCowboy said:

Mar 24, 2021 9:35:52 GMT -5 dilligaf said:

Murder, Manslaughter, and Criminally Negligent Homicide
by Colorado Criminal Defense Lawyer – H. Michael Steinberg – Violent Crimes – Homicide Crimes Criminal Defense Law Firm

In Colorado, Crimes involving Homicide take many forms. What follows are the statutes and then their “constituent elements.” The elements are the form of the statute (law) that goes to the jury at the end of the jury trial. The jury instructions break down the crime into a formula that assists the jury in understanding whether the Prosecution has proven the charge beyond a reasonable doubt.

Well, what do you know ...................   MURDER IS ILLEGAL IN COLORADO.

That law didn't stop anybody from killing, did it?

CRIMINALS DO NOT OBEY THE LAW

They didn't have a SAFE ZONE sign at the entrance?

If you listen to Wally, Willie, and all the other loony libs, every place would be a safe zone ................

................   for armed criminals.

Loony lieberals don't think you have the right to defend yourself from their criminal heroes.
They refuse to admit that criminals do not obey laws.

They don't want to be tough on criminals, because they need the votes of criminals and their families, so they viciously attack law abiding citizens' rights instead.

[Walter]

Mar 24, 2021 18:09:28 GMT -5 dilligaf said:

Mar 24, 2021 14:11:37 GMT -5 AlaCowboy said:

They didn't have a SAFE ZONE sign at the entrance?

If you listen to Wally, Willie, and all the other loony libs, every place would be a safe zone ................

................   for armed criminals.

Loony lieberals don't think you have the right to defend yourself from their criminal heroes.
They refuse to admit that criminals do not obey laws.

They don't want to be tough on criminals, because they need the votes of criminals and their families, so they viciously attack law abiding citizens' rights instead.

LOL...
"...viciously attack law-abiding citizens' rights..."

"Here. Fill out this form and send it in."
OMG, THE VICIOUSNESS!!!

[dilligaf]

Mar 24, 2021 18:56:11 GMT -5 Walter said:

Mar 24, 2021 18:09:28 GMT -5 dilligaf said:

If you listen to Wally, Willie, and all the other loony libs, every place would be a safe zone ................

................   for armed criminals.

Loony lieberals don't think you have the right to defend yourself from their criminal heroes.
They refuse to admit that criminals do not obey laws.

They don't want to be tough on criminals, because they need the votes of criminals and their families, so they viciously attack law abiding citizens' rights instead.

LOL...
"...viciously attack law-abiding citizens' rights..."

"Here. Fill out this form and send it in."
OMG, THE VICIOUSNESS!!!

You got a problem understanding English?

When will you admit that anti-gun laws do NOT affect criminals?

Don't we already have laws forbidding murder?     How is THAT working out for society?

Walt's fairytale version of a criminal:

"Gee, I just read the law that says it is illegal to murder somebody.   I better not kill old man Louie when I rob his store tonight.  The law says I can't do that."

"The law says I can't do that."

LMAO!    I am rolling here!!

[Walter]

Changing the subject, been some weeks. How are ya doing?
Tough, ain't it?