Three federal cases test whether Colorado treats gun rights as policy or as a limit on government
By C. J. Garbo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice
Colorado has spent more than a generation treating the Second Amendment as a public-policy question.
That is the first mistake.
The Bill of Rights does not identify subjects upon which government may act whenever legislators believe their intentions are sufficiently benevolent. It identifies areas in which governmental power is constrained. The distinction is fundamental. A constitutional right does not exist at the pleasure of a legislative majority, nor does its force rise and fall with polling, tragedy, political fashion, or the confidence of public officials in their own judgment.
This is particularly important when discussing firearms because the Second Amendment was never merely an eighteenth-century hunting prov...