Following closing arguments in a lawsuit challenging Colorado’s new gun laws, a federal judge is deliberating on whether the laws violate the constitutional rights of residents to bear arms.
Federal Chief Judge Marcia Krieger took the case under advisement Thursday after a two-week civil trial in Denver.
Peter J. Krumholz, one of several attorneys representing plaintiffs including sheriffs from across Colorado, said Friday that Krieger did not tip her hand about which side of the argument she favors.
“The judge is very hard to read,” Krumholz said.
The lawsuit was originally filed by plaintiffs including gun shops, outfitters and shooting ranges. Krieger ruled last year that the sheriffs could not sue the state in their official capacities but they could join the lawsuit as private citizens.
Colorado Attorney General John Suthers’ office represented defendant Gov. John Hickenlooper, who signed bills into law last year that expanded background checks and ammunition magazine limits.
Defendants argued that legislators passed laws to increase public safety following mass shootings including the Columbine High School massacre in 1999 and the Aurora movie theater shootings in 2012.
The new legislation limited the size of ammunition magazines to 15 rounds.
But plaintiffs argued that the governor signed the bill without presenting substantial evidence that the laws would improve safety and claimed that the laws would harm businesses.
In response to the gun restrictions, voters recalled two Democratic legislators who favored the gun restrictions.
