{"id":152,"date":"2026-05-08T08:34:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T08:34:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=152"},"modified":"2026-05-08T08:34:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T08:34:17","slug":"doj-targets-colorados-gun-magazine-limits-prompted-by-aurora-theater-shooting-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=152","title":{"rendered":"DOJ targets Colorado\u2019s gun magazine limits prompted by Aurora theater shooting"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

This story was first published at Colorado Newsline.<\/em><\/p>\n

DENVER<\/strong> | The Trump administration sued Colorado over its law restricting large-capacity magazines for rifles a day after it sued Denver over its assault weapons ban.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit, filed by the U.S. Department of Justice Wednesday, says the state\u2019s restrictions on magazines capable of holding more than 15 rounds violate the Second Amendment rights of Coloradans.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cColorado\u2019s ban on certain magazines is political virtue signaling at the expense of Americans\u2019 constitutional right to keep and bear arms,\u201d Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the Civil Rights Division, said in a statement. \u201cUnder my direction, the Division\u2019s Second Amendment Section will continue to defend law-abiding Americans\u2019 rights against unconstitutional restrictions on their right to possess arms which are owned by tens of millions of their fellow citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last week, Dhillon\u00a0\u00a0to Denver and Colorado officials saying the department would file lawsuits if they did not voluntarily comply with demands to cease enforcement of bans on semiautomatic rifles and large-capacity magazines by 5 p.m. Eastern time Tuesday. Denver City Attorney Miko Brown responded, calling the request \u201cbaseless, irresponsible, and a clear overreach of the federal government\u2019s power.\u201d The department filed a\u00a0lawsuit against the city\u00a0ahead of the 5 p.m. deadline.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Both lawsuits say enforcement of the state and city policies deprive citizens of their Second Amendment rights. The lawsuits make identical requests of the court to prohibit Denver and Colorado from enforcing their bans and order that they adopt new policies and procedures.<\/p>\n

Colorado has restricted the sale and possession of magazines carrying more than 15 rounds since 2013, when the Colorado Legislature passed a law following the deadly 2012 mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora. Last year, the state Legislature passed a\u00a0law\u00a0to require anyone who purchases a semiautomatic firearm to pass certain training requirements. Efforts to prohibit the making, buying and selling of assault weapons, but not the possession of them,\u00a0failed\u00a0in 2023 and 2024.<\/p>\n

The Colorado Supreme Court unanimously upheld the 2013 state law in 2020, when Rocky Mountain Gun Owners brought a lawsuit against it in state court.<\/p>\n

Denver law has restricted the sale and possession of assault weapons since 1989.<\/p>\n

Attorney general defiant<\/h4>\n

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, a Democrat who is running for governor, said the lawsuit against the state is a \u201cdangerous overreach\u201d by the Department of Justice and \u201cturns the mission of the DOJ\u2019s Civil Rights Division on its head.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLarge-capacity magazine laws are responsible policies that satisfy Second Amendment protections, decrease the deadly impacts of mass shootings, and save lives,\u201d Weiser said in a statement. \u201cThe state has a duty to protect Colorado residents from gun violence, and I will vigorously defend our state large-capacity magazine limit law from this attack by the Trump Justice Department.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ian Escalante, executive director of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, said Colorado \u201chas shown nothing but disdain for our God-given rights for the last decade.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have been brazenly torching the Constitution and until now, have faced little to no repercussions,\u201d Escalante said in a statement. \u201cI pray this is the beginning of a recurring trend from the DOJ: systematically undoing all the damage inflicted on Coloradans by the tyrants in Denver, and the beginning of the end of the gun control apparatus here in Colorado.\u201d<\/p>\n

Janet Carter, managing director of Second Amendment litigation at Everytown Law, said the lawsuit is a \u201cdangerous threat to public safety\u201d and an attack on Colorado\u2019s \u201clife-saving magazine capacity limit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMass shooters using those magazines can fire dozens of rounds in seconds, and Colorado\u2019s common sense measure has protected its residents for over a decade,\u201d Carter said in a statement. \u201cComing just a day after their suit against Denver, it is clear that the DOJ is working to strip communities of the tools they need to keep people safe. We stand with Colorado and will fight to defend these constitutional, vital, and life-saving laws.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Man who firebombed a demonstration in Boulder, killing 1, is sentenced to life in prison<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Read more Aurora\u2019s Colfax BRT project aims to improve bus capacity and frequency<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Read more Aurora\u2019s February sales tax revenue drops as restaurant, clothing sales rise<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This story was first published at Colorado Newsline. DENVER | The Trump administration sued Colorado over its law restricting large-capacity magazines for rifles a day after it sued Denver over its assault weapons ban. The lawsuit, filed by the U.S. Department of Justice Wednesday, says the state\u2019s restrictions on magazines capable of holding more than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42],"class_list":["post-152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-metro","tag-aurora-theater-shooting","tag-city-of-denver","tag-department-of-justice","tag-harmeet-dhillon","tag-james-holmes","tag-phil-weiser","tag-rocky-mountain-gun-owners","tag-state-of-colorado","tag-trump-administration"],"yoast_head":"\nDOJ targets Colorado\u2019s gun magazine limits prompted by Aurora theater shooting - Denver Moving Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=152\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"DOJ targets Colorado\u2019s gun magazine limits prompted by Aurora theater shooting - Denver Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This story was first published at Colorado Newsline. 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