The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Colorado on Wednesday, challenging the state's 2013 ban on magazines holding more than 15 rounds. The DOJ argued that the restriction is unconstitutional because magazines of that capacity are in common use by law-abiding gun owners nationwide and protected under the Second Amendment.
The lawsuit marks the second federal challenge in as many days. On Tuesday, the Justice Department sued Denver over its decades-old ordinance banning certain semiautomatic rifles and pistols equipped with magazines exceeding 15-round capacity. The Denver ban has been in effect since 1989.
Colorado passed its magazine restriction in 2013 following the Aurora movie theater shooting. The law makes it illegal to sell, transfer, or possess magazines holding more than 15 rounds. Standard-capacity magazines for AR-15 semiautomatic rifles typically hold 30 rounds. The DOJ lawsuit contends that Colorado has acknowledged such magazines are commonly owned and used lawfully, including for self-defense purposes.
Harmeet Dhillon, the Assistant Attorney General heading the DOJ's Civil Rights Division, characterized Colorado's law as "political virtue signaling at the expense of Americans' constitutional right to keep and bear arms." She pledged that her division's Second Amendment Section would continue defending gun owners against what she called unconstitutional restrictions.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser pushed back forcefully, calling the lawsuit "a dangerous overreach by the Justice Department." He defended the law as a "common-sense" policy that protects residents from gun violence. "Large-capacity magazine laws are responsible policies that satisfy Second Amendment protections, decrease the deadly impacts of mass shootings and save lives," Weiser said, vowing to defend the state law.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston similarly rejected the federal challenge, stating that the city would not be "intimidated out of" protecting residents. "Denver's law has stood for 37 years because it works, it saves lives, and it reflects the values of our community," Johnston said.
A Pew Research Center analysis found that rifles, including those classified as "assault weapons," accounted for 3% of national gun deaths in 2024.
