Dozens of current and former Colorado sheriffs gathered in Denver on Monday as a three-judge panel of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments challenging two Colorado laws—one banning ammunition magazines with capacities over 15 rounds, and another requiring background checks for all firearm “transfers,” even temporary loans—that the sheriffs said were unenforceable and unconstitutional.
Monday’s federal appeals court hearing on Colorado Outfitters v. Hickenlooper is the latest chapter in a dispute that began when 54 Colorado sheriffs filed a civil suit challenging the laws (Gov. Hickenlooper, who signed the laws despite the sheriffs’ opposition, later issued what he called a “half-assed apology” for doing so), and was further complicated by a federal judge dismissing the sheriffs’ case in 2014.
The panel that heard the case on Monday was composed of two judges appointed by President Obama and one appointed by President George W. Bush. Stay tuned …
