Judge grants temporary restraining order preventing Boulder County from enforcing gun control measures

Aug. 30—A temporary restraining order issued Tuesday by a U.S. district court judge prevents Boulder County from enforcing most of a newly instituted gun control ordinance banning assault weapons and large-capacity magazines.

While the ruling states that Boulder County cannot enforce its assault weapon and large-capacity magazine ban while awaiting the result of a lawsuit that challenges it, Judge Charlotte Sweeney said the temporary restraining order did not apply to the county's prohibition on rapid fire trigger activators, which are devices that function to accelerate the rate of fire.

In an emailed statement, Boulder County acknowledged that it had received the temporary restraining order, which applies to the ordinance related to the prohibition against the sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in unincorporated Boulder County

"The county plans to present a defense of its ordinance, along with the municipal ordinances, at a preliminary injunction hearing," Boulder County wrote in the statement. "At the hearing, the county will demonstrate that its assault weapons ordinance is constitutionally sound."

Loveland-based Rocky Mountain Gun Owners filed similar suits against Louisville, Boulder and Boulder County earlier this month.

The original lawsuits all cite a recent ruling in the group's case against Superior, which was filed in July. The judge in that case granted the group a temporary restraining order prohibiting Superior from enforcing the new gun laws.

"All judges, no matter their political persuasion, will be forced to rule that our right to keep and bear arms cannot be infringed — and that's exactly why this (temporary restraining order) was issued," RMGO Executive Director Taylor Rhodes stated in a news release issued Tuesday.

In an earlier news release, Rocky Mountain Gun Owners said it will be pursuing legal action against any municipality that passes gun control laws following the ruling in the Superior case.

Boulder, Boulder County, Louisville, Lafayette and Superior all passed varying degrees of gun control measures in recent months after a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in which 19 students and two teachers were killed. Longmont has also considered gun control laws of its own.

No lawsuit has been filed at this time against Lafayette.

When RMGO filed its initial lawsuit against Superior, the town released a statement similar to that of Boulder County, arguing it intended to demonstrate the legality of its gun control measures in court.

"Because of the nature of a request for a temporary restraining order, the court entered this preliminary order without hearing the town's evidence and arguments as to why the ordinance is constitutional," Superior noted in a news release.

Court documents indicate that Superior, with agreement from the cities of Boulder and Louisville and Boulder County, has asked to consolidate the four separate cases, given their similarities and the fact that the neighboring jurisdictions worked together to craft a regional approach to gun control.

"It would be inefficient and a waste of the resources of the court and the parties in all four cases to proceed on separate litigation tracks rather than consolidating these matters," the document states.

Additionally, the request argues that consolidation will not result in any meaningful delay or inconvenience to any party as the cases are in early stages.

Boulder City Attorney Teresa Taylor Tate agreed with the notion that it's best for the various jurisdictions to work together.

"We always anticipated that some of our gun violence prevention measures might face legal challenges," Taylor Tate stated in a city news release. "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."

Should a judge agree to consolidation, Boulder and Louisville have agreed to stop enforcing their respective measures. A hearing on the preliminary injunction would begin in early 2023 if the consolidation is granted.