Statement of Attorney General Phil Weiser regarding Colorado Supreme Court hearing large-capacity magazine limitation case

Nov. 13, 2019 (DENVER, Colo.)— Attorney General Phil Weiser released the following statement regarding today’s oral arguments before the Colorado Supreme Court in the large-capacity magazine limitation case Rocky Mountain Gun Owners v. Polis.

“To protect residents from deadly mass shootings, Colorado enacted a gun safety law that prohibits the sale of large-capacity magazines that hold more than 15 rounds of ammunition, unless someone owned the magazine when the law was passed in 2013. The plain language of the law also clearly states that this prohibition includes the sale, transfer, or possession of ‘a similar device that is capable of accepting, or that is designed to be readily converted to accept, more than 15 rounds of ammunition’.

“Today, we argued that this large-capacity limitation law is constitutional and is consistent with the guarantee to a right to bear arms for personal defense under the Colorado Constitution.

“The large-capacity magazine law will decrease the deadly impacts of mass shootings by reducing the number of people who will be harmed during a mass shooting incident, and it will save lives. It also honors Coloradans’ right to bear arms for personal defense. That is why we are asking the Colorado Supreme Court to uphold this law.”

 

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Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-12-302 (2019).

Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 18-12-301(2)(a)(I)(2019) (“’Large-capacity magazine’ means [a] fixed or detachable magazine, box, drum, feed strip, or similar device capable of accepting, or that is designed to be readily converted to accept, more than fifteen rounds of ammunition…”) (emphasis added).

 

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Email: Lawrence.pacheco@coag.gov