Today, the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the Colorado State Shooting Association (CSSA), together with members Greg Howeth of Hawaii and Zackary Dougherty of South Carolina, announced a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado challenging Denver’s carry prohibition for nonresidents.
Colorado will not issue a concealed-handgun permit to a nonresident and recognizes another state’s permit only if that state reciprocates with Colorado. Denver separately bans open carry. Together, those rules leave otherwise qualified, law-abiding visitors with no lawful way to carry a handgun for self-defense in Denver—neither concealed nor openly.
The complaint in Howeth v. City and County of Denver highlights that the Supreme Court has held carry bans unconstitutional and that the Second Amendment has the same meaning in every part of the United States. It further emphasizes that the carry ban for nonresidents contradicts our Nation’s historical tradition, since nonresident travelers historically enjoyed even greater carry rights than residents. Plaintiffs seek declaratory and injunctive relief against Colorado Revised Statutes §§ 18-12-203 and 18-12-213 and Denver Revised Municipal Code § 38-117(a), (b), and (f), as those provisions operate together to impose a complete ban on handgun carry in Denver by qualified nonresidents.
Please stay tuned to www.nraila.org for future updates on NRA-ILA’s ongoing efforts to defend your constitutional rights, and please visit www.nraila.org/litigation to keep up to date on NRA-ILA’s ongoing litigation efforts.
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