City Voluntarily Pauses Enforcement of Assault Weapons Ban to Coordinate Regionally

The City of Boulder announced today that it will temporarily pause enforcement of its ban on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines, effective immediately, to allow time for more legal coordination among neighboring jurisdictions.

The announcement follows the issuance of temporary restraining orders in Superior and a Boulder County cases. The restraining orders were sought by the Loveland-based Rocky Mountain Gun Owners group.

“We always anticipated that some of our gun violence prevention measures might face legal challenges. While these rulings are not directly related to the City of Boulder’s measures, we believe it is prudent to work with our neighbors on a coordinated legal strategy,” said City Attorney Teresa Taylor Tate. “Specifically, the cities of Boulder and Louisville along with Boulder County will seek to consolidate the lawsuits against each jurisdiction with the case against Superior.”

The benefit of consolidating the cases is that there could be one court hearing to determine if the temporary restraining order should be extended through the duration of the lawsuit, rather than having separate hearings potentially decided by separate judges.

“This decision in no way demonstrates a lack of resolve by Boulder’s City Council or administration. We believe these bans are both necessary and legal,” Taylor Tate said. “However, council has always recognized that taking a regional approach to gun violence prevention is beneficial. That is what we are striving to do today.”

The ban on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines was part of one of six gun violence prevention measures passed by Boulder City Council on June 7, 2022. Today’s announcement does not impact any of the other provisions, nor does it impact a ban on trigger activators, such as bump stocks.