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The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals said that lawyers for one of
the young men who challenged the law with a gun rights group,
Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, did not meet the legal burden for
having the law blocked while the lawsuit played out. It sent the
case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
The law was one of four gun control bills signed by Democratic
Gov. Jared Polis in 2023 following the lead of other states
trying to confront a surge in violent crime and mass shootings.
U.S. District Judge Philip Brimmer issued a preliminary
injunction against it before it could take effect. His ruling
frequently referenced a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that expanded
Second Amendment rights, and concluded that the lawsuit would
likely succeed. That 2022 Supreme Court decision in a New York
case changed a test lower courts had used for evaluating
challenges to gun laws.
Colorado’s law effectively sought to prevent those between 18
and 20 from buying rifles and shotguns. A federal law already
prevents licensed firearms dealers from selling handguns to
those under 21 but that ban has also been challenged in light of
the Supreme Court decision.
A Polis spokesperson, Shelby Wieman, said in a statement that
the law was “commonsense gun safety legislation."
The executive director of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, Ian
Escalante, did not immediately have a comment on the ruling.
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