COLORADO, USA — The City of Boulder has filed a notice of appeal after a district court judge blocked its ban on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines.
In 2018, Boulder City Council unanimously passed two ordinances that prohibited the possession, sale and transfer of assault weapons and large-capacity magazines.
It defined assault weapons and included them in a list of illegal weapons.
The ordinances were passed in response to a rise in mass shootings. Council members said the ban was necessary to protect the public health, safety and welfare of the residents.
Two Boulder residents eventually filed a complaint in June 2018. They said they believe the ban is preempted by state law.
Their complaint said statute prohibits local governments from enacting regulations that prohibits the sale, purchase or possession of a firearm that a person may lawfully possess under state or federal law.
Less than two weeks before 10 people were shot and killed at Boulder King Soopers in March 2021, District Court Judge Andrew Hartman ruled in favor of the Boulder residents and blocked the city's two-year-old ban on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines. Police say the accused shooter in the Boulder mass shooting purchased a gun in a different city.
Hartman found that state law trumps Boulder's ban because it is an issue of local and state concern.
"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," the ruling said.
9NEWS Legal Expert Whitney Traylor said he believed the judge could have gone either way, but he is not surprised Hartman took the resident's side.
"Boulder prohibited anything more than 10 rounds," Traylor said. "State law is more than 15 rounds. Because those conflict, the judge said the state law preempts the local law."
The court found the ban on large-capacity magazines encourages "a patchwork of regulations affecting possession of firearms."
The General Assembly authorized the possession of magazines capable of holding 15 rounds or less. Under state law, a person can lawfully possess magazines capable of holding 15, 14, 13, 12, and 11 rounds, possession of which would be unlawful under the city's ordinance.
Unlike Hartman, the city believes this is a matter of local concern and it does not conflict with state law. On April 22, the city filed a notice of appeal in the case.
The Colorado Supreme Court hasn't yet announced whether it will accept the case for review.
If the court does accept the case, it means the court has a chance to decide whether local governments can enact gun laws more restrictive than those in state statutes.
"They are trying to determine if state law preempts, if state law preempts local law on this issue of regulating large-capacity magazines and this notion of assault weapons," Traylor said.
Hartman said state lawmakers have tried to stop bans like this.
State statute from 2003 says, "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."
According to the city's appeal, the council found that Boulder's specific local characteristics heighten the risk of a mass shooting and accordingly the ordinance was a necessary use of Boulder's home-rule powers.
Traylor believes a decision from the Colorado Supreme Court would be fundamentally important because that could impact other cities who have ordinances in place.
"If the City of Boulder wins then I think you are going to see more local regulation that would probably emulate that in various cities," Traylor said.
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