Gun Grabbers are striking

From http://www.gunguys.com/?p=1155


June 6, 2006

Denver Ruling Lets City Regulate Assault Weapons, Handguns

Finally today, great news from Denver, CO. After a decision by the state supreme court there, it seems Denver can continue to regulate weapons that Colorado doesn’t, including assault weapons and some handguns.

The city of Denver can regulate assault weapons, “Saturday night specials” and the open carrying of guns because of a 3-3 deadlock Monday in the Colorado Supreme Court.
The rare split decision came following a lawsuit filed by the city of Denver against the state of Colorado and Gov. Bill Owens. The city claimed that sweeping gun legislation passed by the state legislature in 2003 unconstitutionally pre-empted many of Denver’s own firearms ordinances.
Two Denver district-court judges - Joseph Meyer and Lawrence Manzanares - had ruled that although the state legislation did and could override some of Denver’s minor ordinances, the city still had the right to ban certain guns. These include assault weapons such as Colt AR-15s, MAC 10s, Uzis, all models of Avtomat Kalashnikovs (AKs) and some handguns.

The split Supreme Court decision means that Denver can enforce its own firearm laws governing these weapons, which the city has not done during the litigation.

Assistant City Attorney David Broadwell said Denver has been waiting for the resolution of its legal challenge to the state before moving ahead with enforcement.
It’s great news because while supporters of “pre-emption” of local laws believe that “state laws should be uniform across the entire state,” gun violence certainly isn’t uniform. Denver, as an urban environment, has to contend with a lot more violence than small towns around Colorado do. And so it’s a no brainer that they should be able to apply stricter gun laws than the rest of the state.

Anne Gill, the lawyer who represents Sternberg, said she was disappointed by the Supreme Court’s split decision.
“We were attempting to uphold state laws that said state law would pre-empt local regulation so there would be uniform gun laws throughout Colorado,” Gill said. “Our position is that gun laws are a matter of statewide interest and that there is a huge benefit to having uniformity on gun laws throughout the state.”

Gill and Sternberg have already discussed options, including taking the case to the U.S. Supreme Court and proposing new legislation to the General Assembly.
We almost wish they would take this case to the Supreme Court, because it would be nice to have a clear decision across the country that local governments can have stricter gun regulations than those on the state level. In San Francisco, the NRA is actually fighting to overturn the vote of the people with a law like this– San Fran voted to ban handguns, but the NRA filed suit on the basis that a pre-emption law overrided that. But as the Denver Post knows, that’s blatantly wrong. “Local gun control is the best option.”

Judge Meyer had noted there is a state interest in protecting the constitutional right of citizens to own guns, but the right isn’t absolute, and cities may adopt reasonable gun regulations, such as banning the open carrying of firearms, requiring safe storage to keep guns away from kids, and generally prohibiting weapons from being brought into city parks.

“Denver is by far the most densely populated area of Colorado,” Meyer said. “Denver also suffers rates of violent crime far in excess of statewide averages. As [Denver] stated … ‘Simply put, a bullet fired in Denver - whether maliciously by a criminal or negligently by a law-abiding citizen - is more likely to hit something or somebody than a bullet fired in rural Colorado.”‘
There is zero reason local cities shouldn’t be able to pass legislation that protects themselves from the violence that guns bring. The courts have ruled time and time again that the Second Amendment provides for a “well-regulated militia,” not one that is completely free to do whatever it wants to do. If some local governments choose to have stronger regulation than the rest of the state, the gun lobby shouldn’t be able to stand in their way.

In an emotional issue like gun regulation, it’s easy to overlook a word like “reasonable.” As we’ve said before, citizens have a right to defend themselves, but we also realize that reasonable controls are necessary. And that’s an issue best decided at the local level.

As far as we’re concerned, end of story. Kudos to these judges for deciding rightly in Denver’s case. It’s just too bad that other local governments in the country still fall under the purview of the gun lobby instead of having access to passing laws that protect their own safety.
More: Legislation, Gun Sales, NRA, Police, Colorado, Second Amendment
You're reading "Denver Ruling Lets City Regulate Assault Weapons, Handguns" on Gun Guys. Enjoy!

E-mail this article to:Your e-mail address:

Every article on the site, listed by month! June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005
These are our most popular articles. Get 'em while they're hot!»

.50 Caliber: What the Military Knows»
Welcome to Florida! Wish You Weren't Shot!»
Man Shoots Self in Bathroom at Gun Show»
When it Comes to .50 Caliber Terror, Bigger is Badder»
Man Drops Gun, It Shoots Him in the Head