Boulder AR-15 Ban

[mattiooo]

Boulder is a home rule municipality just like Denver. Here is a list - sort by the "Government" column and the home rule municipalities will jump to the top.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...ns_in_Colorado

Colorado has 61 cities and 35 towns that are home rule municipalities:

Colorado home rule municipalities are self-governing under Article 20 of the Constitution of the State of Colorado; Title 31, Article 1, Section 202 of the Colorado Revised Statutes; and the home rule charter of each municipality. The home rule charter determines the form of government. A Colorado home rule municipality may declare itself to be either a city or a town.

[.455_Hunter]

Yes, but the question of whether a city is "home rule" is apparently not the key deciding factor on whether preemption applies. If it was, most of the larger towns would have already followed King Denver in disregarding the 2003 law. I am not an expert, just what I have gleaned over the years.

[86k10]

Would they be able to pass a AWB similar to Denver of they are a home rule municipality? No mags over 15.

[SideShow Bob]

Wasn’t Denver’s ban on magazines over 20 rounds before the state’s 2013 ban on over 15 rounds ?
And wasn’t Denver’s AWB in line with the 94 Federal AWB ?

[def90]

The Home Rule clause doesn't override firearms laws preemption as far as I can tell.. I can't remember how Denver got/gets around it.

[def90]

Wasn’t Denver’s ban on magazines over 20 rounds before the state’s 2013 ban on over 15 rounds ?
And wasn’t Denver’s AWB in line with the 94 Federal AWB ?

Yes, it was before the states ban, it was put in place back when there was a lot of gang violence/warfare going on in Denver. Denver's law is an odd one.. It doesn't ban magazines over 20 rounds directly. I believe the assault weapons ban is a ban on any firearm that has a magazine over 20 rounds attached to it. From what I can tell an AR15 with a 20 round mag would be legal, an AR15 with a 30 round mag would be illegal. Possessing a 30 round magazine is not illegal based on how it is worded.

Denver's law:
https://www.newsmax.com/fastfeatures.../29/id/639029/

"So, an AR15 with a 20 round magazine is not considered an "assault weapon" by Denver's ordinance. However, that same rifle with a magazine with a capacity of 21 or more rounds is considered an "assault weapon. "

[def90]

The Home Rule clause doesn't override firearms laws preemption as far as I can tell.. I can't remember how Denver got/gets around it.

OK, I looked it up.. The state preemption law was passed after Denver created their laws thus Denver sued the state on the issue. Sorry for the Gifford link but it lays it out.

http://lawcenter.giffords.org/local-...s-in-colorado/

The judge noted: "unique characteristics that differentiate Denver from other parts of the state, such as high population density and a high crime rate, stating that these characteristics outweigh the need for statewide uniformity in these areas. "

Boulder does not have a high crime rate nor a high population density (at least not as high as Denver) thus another judge using this as their basis would likely strike it down.. You never know though.

[NFATrustGuy]

I just read the Judge Meyer decision on the lawsuit between Denver and the State of Colorado.

It seems to me that the decision upholding Denver’s assault weapon ban was based on Denver convincing the judge that Denver was unique in population density and crime rate such that it has different needs as compared to the rest of the state.

The concept of State preemption was discussed because the State had recently enacted a law stating that the State was assuming authority for all laws concerning firearms. Judge Meyer mentioned in his ruling that the Denver assault weapon law existed before the State law declaring the regulation of firearms to be a State issue. In his discussion of whether or not a State could just declare itself sole authority on an issue, Judge Meyer cited several cases that suggest that a State declaration should be weighed heavily, but the declaration of authority isn’t an automatic win for the State.

In lawyer terminology, the discussion of whether a State can just declare itself the supreme authority on an issue and the issue of whether the State’s preemption legislation was enacted before or after the Denver assault weapon ban would be referred to as Dicta. It’s important discussion, but it’s not the primary reason the case was decided the way it was.

In the vernacular of my favorite Civil Procedure Professor, Lucy Marsh, the black letter law from the Meyer decision is that if a local municipality can convince the court that that particular municipality has sufficient special circumstances that require special laws for that particular municipality, then that municipality can make its own special law.

Of course if Boulder pulls this shit, the State should argue that the timing of the State preemption law is VERY significant and should preclude Boulder from enacting an assault weapon ban. They’ll also argue that Boulder doesn’t have the population density or the crime rate of Denver—as others have already pointed out in this thread.

Bottom line is that the way I’m reading it, I think it could happen and the ultimate decision as to whether it’s upheld will be left to the court system. As we’ve all witnessed, the courts have increasingly become heavily influenced by politics and frequently issue strained decisions inline with their party’s position on any given issue.

This opinion brought to you live from a booth at Chili’s—because this is what nerdy folks do when they’re having dinner alone! :-)

[hollohas]

That's all BS. The preemption law is either valid or not. The entire notion that Denver is somehow special enough not to follow Colorado law is absurd. State law can only be statewide or not at all. What hogwash.

(This post is directed at the stupid judge that decided it, not NFAtrustguy )

Every rural municipality should claim they have special circumstances that outweigh the state mag ban.

[.455_Hunter]

You guys better hope that Boulder gets slapped down, otherwise it's open season on gun owners in pretty much every major urban city in the state.