Denver, CO — September 24, 2020 — Mountain States Legal Foundation (MSLF) formally petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday to overturn the Tenth Circuit’s decision to deny a federal hearing in the gun owner’s rights case Caldara v. Boulder. MSLF is asking the high court to allow our clients their day in federal court.
Residents of Boulder, Colorado, face heavy fines and jail time for the mere possession of firearms that are legal elsewhere throughout Colorado and the United States. The city imposed a sweeping ban of the most popular and widely owned firearms and ammunition magazines in America.
In a blatant act of discrimination against a political minority, the city council also unconstitutionally raised the minimum age for firearm possession within Boulder city limits to 21.
Plaintiffs in the case, who include Boulder resident Jon Caldara, have yet to get a hearing in court. The writ of certiorari filed by MSLF is intended to end the logjam and force the wheels of justice to begin rolling forward in this case.
Other plaintiffs in the case include the Boulder Rifle Club, which has been in existence since 1889; Bison Tactical, a small business in Boulder city limits; and Tyler Faye, a member of the University of Colorado Shooting Team, and Mark Ringer, a part-time law enforcement officer.
“Our clients have been waiting for over 2 years simply to have their day in Court,” said MSLF Attorney Cody J. Wisniewski, upon filing the petition. “The rights involved in this case, namely Boulder residents’ natural right to self-defense, are too important for a federal court to stay its hand.”
“We believe this case presents the Supreme Court with the perfect opportunity to recognize the importance of the Second Amendment, and other natural rights, and to ensure no other litigant is forced to wait to vindicate their rights in a federal court,” Wisniewski added. “Those rights cannot be violated by a city or state without allowing for federal court intervention.”
Mountain States Legal Foundation is a nonprofit, public-interest legal foundation dedicated to individual liberty, the right to own and use property, limited and ethical government, and the free enterprise system. Its offices are located outside Denver, Colorado.