US President Donald Trump’s administration sued Denver and its police department on Tuesday (local time) in an attempt to overturn a ban on assault weapons that has been in place in Colorado’s largest city since 1989.
The Trump administration’s lawsuit came a day after Denver officials openly rejected calls from the Department of Justice (DOJ) to repeal a longstanding city rule that makes it a crime to possess assault weapons.
The administration argues that such a ban violates the US Constitution’s Second Amendment right to bear arms, the Justice Department said in a news release.
What did the attorney general say about Denver’s ban?
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement: “The Constitution is not a draft and the Second Amendment is not a second class right.” He added: “Denver’s ban on commonly owned semi-automatic rifles directly violates the right to bear arms.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said, “I have directed the Civil Rights Division through our new Second Amendment section to defend law-abiding Americans from restrictions like the ones we challenge in these cases.” Dhillon added, “Law-abiding Americans, no matter what city or state they live in, should not have to live under the threat of criminal penalties simply for exercising their Second Amendment right to own guns that are owned by tens of millions of their fellow citizens.”
The federal government argued its case, pointing to two landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases: the 2008 District of Columbia v. Heller — protecting the right of law-abiding citizens to own legal firearms — and 2022’s New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which directs courts to compare modern gun restrictions with historical firearms regulation.
What is the Second Amendment right about?
According to the official website, “a well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”
Denver is denying the Justice Department’s request
Last week, Justice Department lawyers asked the city to halt enforcement of the ban and asked it to begin negotiations with federal officials to resolve the matter. However, the city’s mayor and police chief strongly rejected the Trump administration’s request during a press conference Monday.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston said, “Our answer is hell no,” adding, “No, we’re not going to revoke the common-sense policies that have kept weapons of war off these city streets for 37 years. No, we’re not going to put first responders at greater risk every time they respond to a dangerous incident. No, we’re not going to go back to a time when people are afraid to go to the movies, to grocery stores, or to grocery stores.”
Why did Denver implement an assault weapons ban?
According to the AP, Denver’s assault weapons ban was implemented during a period of heightened concern about violence in the city. It preceded several notorious mass shootings in Colorado — the 1999 Columbine High School massacre that killed 14 people, the 2012 killing of 12 at an Aurora movie theater and the 2021 killing of 10 at a Boulder supermarket.
Federal officials said in their lawsuit that Denver’s ban includes AR-15-style rifles owned by at least 16 million people in the United States.
“They use these common semi-automatic rifles for a variety of lawful purposes, including but not limited to self-defense,” government lawyers wrote.
