Colorado and Denver appeared to contradict each other Wednesday while responding to a motion for a preliminary injunction in a case involving out-of-state residents carrying firearms for self-defense.
The Firearms Policy Coalition sued both the state and the city of Denver over what it calls an “effective ban” on out-of-state residents carrying firearms for personal protection in September, updating their complaint on Oct. 6. In their responses to the FPC’s motion for a preliminary injunction, Colorado, Denver and the Denver District Attorney appeared to point the finger at laws they claimed allowed for non-residents to carry.
“Colorado’s lenient public-carry firearm regime allows the open carry of handguns without a permit, allows concealed carry permits for all residents, and recognizes the permits of nonresidents whose home states participate in a reciprocity regime with Colorado,” a brief filed by Colorado Bureau of Investigation Director Armando Saldate III and Chief of the Colorado State Patrol Colonel Matthew C. Packard.
“For decades, the City of Denver has regulated the public carry of handguns in a manner sensitive to both the need to maintain public order in dense urban areas and the Second Amendment rights of those living in, or traveling through, Denver,” a brief filed for Denver Police Department Chief Ron Thomas and Denver Sheriff Elias Diggins claimed. “While in some instances Denver prohibits concealed and open carry of weapons, it allows open or concealed carry ‘with valid authorization from the city’ or while ‘[t]ransporting the weapon while travelling within a private automobile … for the purposes of hunting or the lawful protection of such person or their property,’ among other exceptions.”
In its complaints on behalf of California resident Gene Hoffman, FPC argued that the state and city’s laws on carrying firearms made it impossible for some non-residents, noting that California’s concealed-carry permits were not recognized by Colorado and that it only recognized out-of-state permits if they were issued to a resident of that state.
“Colorado and Denver want everyone to ignore what their laws actually do. Colorado points to open carry, knowing Denver bans it. Denver points to concealed carry, knowing Colorado won’t recognize the permits held by peaceable visitors. Their entire defense amounts to ‘Pay no attention to the gun ban behind the curtain,’” FPC President Brandon Combs said in a Thursday release. “But this isn’t Oz, and the Constitution isn’t an illusion. The Supreme Court has already made clear that peaceable Americans have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense.”
“Our victory against California’s nonresident carry ban proved that fundamental rights don’t stop at state lines,” Combs continued. “So Colorado and Denver can keep pointing fingers and making excuses, but they cannot hide their unconstitutional gun-control scheme from the courts or the People. FPC and our Grassroots Army will continue to Fight Forward until these immoral and unconstitutional restrictions are eliminated nationwide.”
The Supreme Court declared New York’s “good cause” requirement for pistol permits was a violation of the Second Amendment in the June 2022 Bruen decision. Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, who authored the court’s opinion in the case, established a “text and history” standard for Second Amendment challenges, requiring the government to demonstrate that the law in question is consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.
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