Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Rocky Mountain Gun Owners

Federal Judge Pauses Boulder County Gun Ban Case Pending Supreme Court Ruling
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Federal Judge Pauses Boulder County Gun Ban Case Pending Supreme Court Ruling

By Michael Karlik | Colorado Politics A federal judge agreed on Friday that she would await the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in an upcoming Second Amendment case before she addresses the constitutionality of similar gun ordinances in multiple Boulder County jurisdictions. Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, the National Association for Gun Rights, and several individual Coloradans filed suit in 2022 over local firearms ordinances that generally prohibited the sale, transfer, and possession of large-capacity magazines and semi-automatic guns deemed “assault weapons,” with some variation. As defendants, they named the town of Superior, the cities of Louisville and Boulder, and Boulder County. In July 2025, U.S. District Court Judge Nina Y. Wang clarified which claims could ...
Federal Court Weighs Fate Of Colorado’s Three-Day Gun Purchase Waiting Period
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Federal Court Weighs Fate Of Colorado’s Three-Day Gun Purchase Waiting Period

By Michael Karlik | Colorado Politics A federal judge heard arguments on Monday about the constitutionality of a 2023 Colorado law that generally imposes a three-day waiting period on firearm purchases after the initiation of a background check. The test that the U.S. Supreme Courtcreated in 2022 for assessing firearm regulations’ compliance with the Second Amendment occurs in two phases. First, judges must determine if the constitutional text applies to the regulation at issue, and then the government must show that the policy is consistent with similar regulations throughout the country’s history — in particular, around the time of the Second Amendment’s adoption. “The first ‘cooling off’-style waiting period did not come into existence until the ...
A Rodney King-era civil rights law drives the federal lawsuit over Colorado’s magazine ban
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

A Rodney King-era civil rights law drives the federal lawsuit over Colorado’s magazine ban

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado's magazine ban has been challenged before. The surprise this time is not the Second Amendment argument. It is the DOJ’s decision to use a federal civil-rights law traditionally aimed at police misconduct investigations to make it. On May 5, federal attorneys filed against Denver over its assault-weapons ban. The next morning, they were back in court with another complaint—this one against the state, over the 15-round magazine limit. The law driving both lawsuits came out of the aftermath of Rodney King. Congress passed §12601 in 1994 after Los Angeles erupted in riots, giving the federal government authority to intervene when police departments repeatedly violated constitutional rights. DOJ has used the law fewer than 100 times in t...
Federal judge upholds Colorado’s 21+ gun law, Rocky Mountain Gun Owners vow to appeal
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Federal judge upholds Colorado’s 21+ gun law, Rocky Mountain Gun Owners vow to appeal

By Taylor Dolven | Colorado Sun A gun rights group challenged the 2023 law in court. Thursday’s ruling by a U.S. District Judge is a win for gun-control advocates. Colorado’s law requiring people to be at least 21 years old to buy a gun can stand, a federal judge ruled Thursday. The ruling is a definitive win for gun control advocates and a blow to the group Rocky Mountain Gun Owners and two young people hoping to purchase guns, who sued Gov. Jared Polis to block the law in 2023. Chief U.S. District Judge Philip A. Brimmer sided with Polis and said in his ruling that the plaintiffs could not prove that the law violated their rights. “Plaintiffs cannot establish a violation of a right secured by the Constitution or that they have suffered an irreparable injury from such a violat...
‘We have to fight with everything that we have’: House Minority Whip Ryan Armagost is leading GOP opposition
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

‘We have to fight with everything that we have’: House Minority Whip Ryan Armagost is leading GOP opposition

By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Ryan Armagost has a background of serving as a U.S. Marine, deputy sheriff and firefighter, making him no stranger to challenging situations. Yet, none of those roles, he says, compare to being a state legislator. Armagost is a Republican serving in Colorado House District 64, which lies in Larimer and Weld counties. "This is definitely the most challenging job I've had," Armagost said. "The constant level of negotiation, bargaining and compromising — and everything that we have to do is equivalent to a bad marriage." 'Whip'ing the GOP members With the departure of Rep. Richard Holtorf from the Golden Dome, Armagost became the minority party's whip in the 75th Colorado Legislature. He had previously been the unof...
‘Let there be a run on guns’: Senate Democrats advance semiauto gun ban to Colorado House
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

‘Let there be a run on guns’: Senate Democrats advance semiauto gun ban to Colorado House

By Brian Porter | Rocky Mountain Voice A debate Tuesday on the proper role of government and at what point constitutional liberty has been infringed, led by Senate Republicans, fell upon deaf ears. Senate Bill 25-003, what some deem to be the most overreaching gun-control proposal in the country, was passed by a 19-15 vote of the Democrat-dominated Senate and now heads to the Colorado House. If it were to clear the House, the bill would land on Gov. Jared Polis' desk. The bill, if it were to be signed into law, would allow for future purchase, sell or transfer of only certain semiauto firearms on a Democrat-submitted list and would create a de-facto gun owner registry through other requirements, such as mandatory hunter's and firearms education classes prior to purchase. "We ha...
Senate Dems’ whip says ‘I am a no’ to SB 3, the semi-auto gun ban bill, absent of significant changes
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Senate Dems’ whip says ‘I am a no’ to SB 3, the semi-auto gun ban bill, absent of significant changes

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice The house of cards on Colorado Senate Bill 25-003 appears to be collapsing in the wee hours before it is set for a vote. Sen. Nick Hinrichsen, a Pueblo County Democrat and the majority party's whip, has declared his opposition to the bill "prohibiting the manufacture, distribution, transfer, sale, and purchase of specified semiautomatic firearms" that some have said would make Colorado the most anti-gun state in the country. https://twitter.com/NickForCO/status/1886526899926786130 SB 3, sponsored by Democrat Sens. Tom Sullivan and Julie Gonzales and by Democrat Reps. Andrew Boesenecker and Meg Froelich, is slated for a second reading postponed from Jan. 31 at 9 a.m. Friday, when a vote could be taken. "I believe that, broadly, semi-au...
Rep. Thomas Massie, the 2024 keynote to RMGO, notes irony of President Biden pardon
Approved, National, Rocky Mountain Voice

Rep. Thomas Massie, the 2024 keynote to RMGO, notes irony of President Biden pardon

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice In the wake of President Joe Biden pardoning his son, Hunter, for a variety of criminal offenses, including the unlawful purchase of a firearm, one 2nd Amendment advocate familiar to gun-owning Coloradans noted the irony. U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, who was the keynote speaker this year at the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners' annual banquet, called upon Biden to expand the pardon in an effort for equal application of the law. "Since Joe Biden thinks a particular gun law shouldn’t be enforced for his son Hunter Biden, he should pardon everyone who’s been prosecuted under that same provision," Massey wrote on Twitter/X. https://twitter.com/RepThomasMassie/status/1863693757469659314 In addition to his role this year with RMGO, Massie ...
Gov. Polis signs four gun-control bills destined for legal challenges by pro-gun advocates
Approved, CBS Colorado, State

Gov. Polis signs four gun-control bills destined for legal challenges by pro-gun advocates

By CBS 11 News Colorado's governor signed four gun control bills Friday, following the lead of other states struggling to confront a nationwide surge in violent crime and mass shootings, despite a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that expanded Second Amendment rights. Before the ink was even dry on Gov. Jared Polis' signature, gun rights groups sued to reverse two of the measures: raising the buying age for any gun from 18 to 21, and establishing a three-day waiting period between the purchase and receipt of a gun. The courts are already weighing lawsuits over such restrictions in other states. READ THE FULL STORY AT CBS 11 NEWS
RMGO leaders, members to rally Tuesday morning against “assault weapons” ban
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

RMGO leaders, members to rally Tuesday morning against “assault weapons” ban

By BRIAN PORTER | The Rocky Mountain Voice Rocky Mountain Gun Owners will rally on the west steps of the state capitol at 8 a.m. Tuesday, March 19, in opposition to specific anti-gun legislation under consideration. House Bill 1292, by Democrat Reps. Elisabeth Epps and Tim Hernandez, to prohibit “assault weapons” will be heard by the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday at the Old State Library. The bill has a broad definition of “assault weapon”, which could make rifled barrel pistols and rifles illegal, along with pistol grip shotguns, and many other guns. Additionally, Senate Bill 131, known as the “sensitive spaces” gun bill, will be heard at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Senate Judiciary Committee at the Old Supreme Court. Sensitive spaces are defined in the bill as a park or playg...