The Appeal Challenges Lower Court’s Refusal to Address Boulder’s Constitutional Violations
Denver, CO. – April 3, 2019 – Mountain States Legal Foundation (MSLF) filed its Reply Brief today in a federal appellate court in a case that has broad implications for the ability of city governments to restrict firearm ownership.
The case, Caldara v. City of Boulder, originated last May, when MSLF sued the City of Boulder on behalf of Boulder residents, a local nonprofit, and a small business, after city council members banned some of the most commonly owned firearms in the United States, as well as standard capacity magazines. Council members also raised the age of legal gun ownership in the city from 18 to 21.
In a decision issued in August, Judge Marcia S. Krieger of the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado put an indefinite halt to the case. Instead of addressing the relevant federal constitutional issues, Judge Krieger held that the State of Colorado should first decide, solely under Colorado law, whether the City of Boulder had the authority to enact sweeping new firearm and magazine regulations.
But MSLF refused to sit idly by and filed an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, arguing that the district court’s decision ignores the importance of the natural, fundamental rights at issue. MSLF filed its Opening Brief in the appeal on January 10, 2019. MSLF’s Reply Brief signals the end of briefing on the issue, but MSLF will immediately begin preparing for oral argument to address this vital and novel issue before the Court in person.
“The City of Boulder has demonstrated disdain for and expressed a fundamental misunderstanding of Second Amendment protected rights,” said Cody Wisniewski, MSLF’s lead attorney on the case. “We look forward to the opportunity to continue to defend those rights during oral argument before the 10th Circuit in the near future.”
Given recent opinions in Illinois and California, the outlook for courts stepping in to guard citizens’ fundamental right to keep and bear arms is looking up. MSLF is hopeful that the 10th Circuit will soon join this trend and vindicate Boulder residents’ constitutionally protected rights.
Mountain States Legal Foundation, founded in 1977, 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.