As you probably already know, the U.S. Department of Justice this month filed two lawsuits in Colorado—one against the City of Denver and one against the State—targeting an assault weapons ban and a high-capacity magazine ban, respectively. The AW ban was passed in Denver in 1989, and the state high-capacity magazine ban passed in 2013.
We believe these lawsuits, both against bans that have already been found to be constitutional (various municipal assault weapons bans in several Federal Appeals Courts, and the Colorado high-capacity magazine ban by the Colorado Supreme Court in 2020 see Denver response here), are nothing more than a performative gesture to the gun lobby.
Colorado is all-too-familiar with the tragedies these kinds of weapons and devices enable, including the Columbine and Aurora Theater shootings. Colorado Ceasefire is absolutely committed to continuing our work for common-sense solutions to the gun violence crisis through public and media outreach, education, and legislative action. We have been in contact with state and city leaders to provide resources on these issues, and have reached out to our national partners to identify successful tactics that other groups have employed against similar tactics.
The filing of these suits is just the first step in what is bound to be a long judicial process, and we promise to be there every step of the way.
- VPC Study: Most Murder-Suicides Involve Guns, Are Committed by Men, and Target Intimate Partners
- Colorado Ceasefire Statement on Trump DOJ Lawsuits
- 2026 Legislature Wrap-Up: A Record-Tying Year for Gun Violence Prevention
- Ceasefire Interview: Devin Hughes, author of ‘The Myths We Carry: An Advocate’s Guide to the Gun Debate’
- Trump Sues Again, This Time Over High-Capacity Mags