politics
Justice Department Sues Denver Over Semi-Automatic Weapons Ban
The U.S. Justice Department filed a civil lawsuit against the City of Denver, alleging its ban on semi-automatic weapons violates the Second Amendment. The suit seeks to halt enforcement of the ordinance, which restricts firearms with magazines over 15 rounds. City officials rejected a prior warning, defending the 37-year-old policy as effective for public safety.
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The Justice Department filed a civil lawsuit against the City of Denver on Tuesday, alleging that the city's ban on semi-automatic weapons violates the Second Amendment. U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, names the City and County of Denver and the Denver Police Department as defendants.
It asks a judge to stop the city and its police department from enforcing the weapons ban and to implement policies that correct instances in which people’s rights were violated by the ban. Denver’s ordinance, enacted nearly 40 years ago in 1989, restricts firearms with magazines over 15 rounds, including weapons that have been modified to hold magazines over 15 rounds.
’ “Law-abiding Americans, regardless of what city or state they reside in, should not have to live under threat of criminal sanction just for exercising their Second Amendment right to possess arms which are owned by tens of millions of their fellow citizens,” Harmeet Dhillon, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a statement.
The Justice Department has vowed to sue state and local governments across the country for gun policies it claims violate the Constitution. The department established a Second Amendment Section last year to lead the filing of such lawsuits. The Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Washington, DC, for its restrictions on AR-15-style weapons.
The department also sued the Virgin Islands Police Department for permitting delays it says are unreasonable. Harmeet Dhillon warned Denver of a potential lawsuit in late April, writing that Denver could avoid the lawsuit if officials agreed to stop enforcing the ban and acknowledge it was unconstitutional. City Attorney Miko Brown responded in a letter dated Monday.
The 12-page complaint alleges that Denver’s ban on commonly owned semi-automatic rifles directly violates the right to bear arms, according to Fox News. Denver’s ordinance restricts the possession and sale of guns with magazines carrying more than 15 rounds, as confirmed by multiple sources.
