Gun supporters file lawsuit after Boulder’s ‘assault weapons’ ban

A federal lawsuit has been filed against the city of Boulder after the city council voted unanimously to ban certain types of firearms this week.

The Mountain States Legal Foundation filed the lawsuit Wednesday in the U.S. District Court of Colorado in Denver. The foundation is representing Boulder residents Jon. C Caldara and Tyler Faye, the Boulder Rifle Club, and General Commerce LLC – Bison Tactical. The group says a recent ordinance passed by the council violates the U.S. and Colorado state constitutions.

The ordinance bans “assault weapons,” which the council defined as semi-automatic rifles with pistol grips or thumbhole stocks, or a folding stock, or a stabilizing grip for the non-trigger hand. Semi-automatic shotguns with similar features and semi-automatic pistols with secondary grips or non-standard magazines are also included, according to our partners at Denver7.

People in Boulder who own weapons that fall under those definitions have until Dec. 31 to get a background check and a weapon ownership certification from police and arrange safe storage for the weapon. Otherwise, they’ll have to remove them from the city or make them unusable.

The lawsuit — which names the city of Boulder, its city manager, police chief, mayor and mayor pro tem, and seven council members as defendants — claims that those restrictions are unconstitutional. The city couldn’t be reached for comment.

“Ordinance 8245 and the actions of Defendants violate multiple provisions of the U.S. Constitution, including Article VI, the First Amendment, the Second Amendment, the Fifth Amendment, and the Fourteenth Amendment,” the lawsuit says. It also adds that the ordinance violates the state constitution and multiple state statutes.

The group who filed the lawsuit wants the court to prevent the city from enforcing the new ordinance and to declare it in violation of the Constitution. The suit also seeks monetary compensation.