Trump DOJ Challenges Colorado and Denver Gun Bans as Second Amendment Violations
"The Trump administration sues Colorado and Denver over decades-old restrictions on AR-15 rifles and standard-capacity magazines, marking a major federal challenge to progressive gun control measures held by millions of Americans.
The Trump administration sued Colorado and Denver on Tuesday and Wednesday, arguing that bans on the nation's most popular firearms violate the Second Amendment. The lawsuits challenge restrictions on AR-15 rifles and standard-capacity magazines—weapons held by millions of law-abiding citizens across the state and city.
The actions expose a contradiction in progressive governance. Local and state officials who routinely decry federal overreach now defend their own restrictions on commonly owned firearms.
The Department of Justice filed two lawsuits May 5-6 challenging decades-old gun control measures. United States v. Denver targets the city's 37-year-old assault weapons ban, while United States v. Colorado challenges the state's 13-year-old large-capacity magazine restriction. Both suits argue the measures violate the Second Amendment's protection of arms "in common use for lawful purposes."
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche framed the legal action as a constitutional duty. "The Constitution is not a suggestion and the Second Amendment is not a second-class right," Blanche stated. "Denver's ban on commonly owned semi-automatic rifles directly violates the right to bear arms. This Department of Justice will vigorously defend the liberties of law-abiding citizens nationwide."
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the Civil Rights Division, called Colorado's magazine ban "political virtue signaling at the expense of Americans' constitutional right to keep and bear arms." The lawsuits invoke 34 U.S.C. § 12601, a federal statute typically used against police misconduct, alleging a "pattern or practice" of constitutional violations.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, who routinely oppose federal mandates, now defend their local restrictions as "common-sense policies." Weiser called the DOJ lawsuit "dangerous overreach" that "turns the mission of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division on its head."
Mayor Johnston delivered a defiant response to pre-lawsuit demands. "We're here today to let them know that our answer is 'hell no,'" Johnston declared at a May 4 news conference. "No, we will not roll back a common-sense policy that has kept weapons of war off of these city streets for 37 years."
The federal complaints present overwhelming evidence that the banned firearms are America's most popular weapons. At least 28 million AR-style rifles circulate nationwide, with approximately 2.8 million entering the market in 2020 alone. According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation's Detachable Magazine Report (1990-2021), there are at least 448 million magazines with a capacity in excess of 15 rounds in the United States.
Denver's own police data undermines the safety rationale for its ban. Police Chief Ron Thomas acknowledged that fewer than 40 of 2,100 guns seized last year were assault-style weapons—less than 2 percent of total confiscations. The statistics suggest the ban primarily impacts law-abiding citizens rather than criminal violence.
City Attorney Miko Brown argued in a May 4 letter that six federal appellate courts have upheld similar bans.
Gun rights advocates welcomed the federal intervention. "It definitely puts these elected officials on notice, who have thought for a long time that they can just get away with passing legislation that blatantly violates the Second Amendment," said Huey Laugesen, executive director of the Colorado State Shooting Association.
Dudley Brown, president of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, stated, "Denver politicians have spent decades pretending the Second Amendment stops at the city limits. Today, the Department of Justice has put them on notice. You do not get to shred the Constitution, criminalize peaceable gun owners and call it public safety."
The lawsuits mark an early foray for the DOJ's new Second Amendment Section, established in 2025 within the Civil Rights Division. Acting Section Chief Barry K. Arrington previously served as chief counsel for Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, which unsuccessfully challenged Colorado's magazine ban in state court.
Colorado's magazine ban originated after the 2012 Aurora movie theater shooting, where a gunman used a 100-round magazine to kill 12 people and wound 70 others. The state Supreme Court upheld the law in 2020 solely on state constitutional grounds, not the U.S. Second Amendment.
Governor Jared Polis signed legislation tightening the magazine ban further in April 2025. His office issued a statement asserting, "Stopping senseless gun violence makes Colorado streets and communities safer. No Coloradan should fear for their life when going to the grocery store, movies, place of worship, or school."
Gun control advocates condemned the DOJ action. Eileen McCarron of Colorado Ceasefire, who helped draft the 2013 legislation, argued, "15 rounds are not needed for personal protection and have the potential to do more harm than good." Attorney Josh Koskoff, who represented Sandy Hook victims' families, called the lawsuit "as dangerous as it is meritless."
The legal battle sets up a direct confrontation between federal constitutional enforcement and local gun control experimentation. With at least 28 million AR-style rifles in American hands, the DOJ argues these bans effectively criminalize the nation's most popular firearms for law-abiding citizens. The question now is whether local governments can continue to treat the Second Amendment as optional.