WASHINGTON, D.C. (KOAA) — The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Wednesday it is suing the State of Colorado for what it claims is an "unconstitutional weapons ban."
The lawsuit states the State unconstitutionally bans certain constitutionally protected standard-capacity firearm magazines.
According to the DOJ, the law infringes on Second Amendment rights.
“Colorado’s ban on certain magazines is political virtue signaling at the expense of Americans’ constitutional right to keep and bear arms."
“Under my direction, the Division’s Second Amendment Section will continue to defend law-abiding Americans’ rights against unconstitutional restrictions on their right to possess arms which are owned by tens of millions of their fellow citizens.”
In the State of Colorado, large-capacity magazines are limited to 15 rounds.
The limitations were put in place through the Colorado Revised Statute (C.R.S.) 18-12-302.
The DOJ states Colorado has previously admitted that the magazine ban comes standard with guns such as AR-15-style rifles, and cites the 2008 U.S. Supreme Court case District of Columbia v. Heller.
The Supreme Court case upheld Second Amendment rights for lawful citizens.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser released a statement in response to the DOJ's lawsuit, which can read below:
“Using federal civil rights law to put Coloradans at greater risk of gun violence is a dangerous overreach by the Justice Department and this lawsuit turns the mission of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division on its head. Large-capacity magazine laws are responsible policies that satisfy Second Amendment protections, decrease the deadly impacts of mass shootings, and save lives. The state has a duty to protect Colorado residents from gun violence, and I will vigorously defend our state large-capacity magazine limit law from this attack by the Trump Justice Department.”
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