CO: Bill Introduced to Repeal Colorado Restrictions on Magazine Capacity

Republicans in the Colorado Senate have introduced a bill to repeal the limits placed on magazine capacity in 2013. Here is the summary of SB18-052:

The bill repeals statutory provisions:

• Prohibiting the possession of certain ammunition magazines; and
• Requiring each of certain ammunition magazines that are manufactured in Colorado on or after July 1, 2013, to include a permanent stamp or marking indicating that the magazine was manufactured or assembled after July 1, 2013.

The magazine limits were heavily contested by the Colorado Sheriffs who sued Governor Hickenlooper over the law. 

The lawsuit was eventually dismissed, because no one had been prosecuted under the law's provisions.

After the passage of the law, retailers and firearms owners quickly found ways to circumvent it, as opponents had predicted.

As of 2016, there were no prosecutions under the law, according to David Kopel, a firearms law expert. From the denverpost.com:

But Kopel also said no one has yet been prosecuted under the laws.

“The laws are unenforceable, and they haven’t been enforced,” he said.

The Colorado ban on magazines with a capacity of over 15 rounds only applies if the magazines were manufactured after 2013. Firearms magazines do not generally have serial numbers or dates of manufacture stamped on them. There are hundreds of millions of magazines in the United States in private hands.

Large numbers of modern firearms come with standard capacity magazines of more than 15 rounds.

©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch