Justice Department Sues Colorado to Overturn Its Large-Capacity Magazine Ban

The Justice Department filed suit against the State of Colorado on May 6, asking a federal court to strike down the state statute that criminalizes possession of large-capacity ammunition magazines. The complaint argues the ban violates the Second Amendment because it reaches magazines that come as standard equipment on widely owned firearms, and relies on District of Columbia v. Heller for the proposition that arms in common use for lawful purposes are constitutionally protected. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said the ban was "political virtue signaling at the expense of Americans' constitutional right to keep and bear arms." Colorado enacted the restriction after the 2012 Aurora theater shooting.

The suit is notable less for its constitutional theory, which private gun-rights plaintiffs have pressed for years, than for the posture: the federal executive suing a state to invalidate the state's own criminal law, rather than filing a brief supporting an existing private challenge. Bringing the case in its own name commits federal litigating resources to overturning a state public-safety measure in an area historically left to state police power.

The case was pending as of the sources reviewed; no ruling on the merits had issued.