PROTECTING STRONG GUN LAWS
United States v. Denver
Trump’s Justice Department is misusing a federal civil rights statute to try to invalidate strong gun laws across the nation. On behalf of the City of Denver and other places that regulate assault weapons, we’re fighting back.
THE IMPACT
This case will determine whether the Department of Justice (D.O.J.) can repurpose a civil rights statute enacted to protect minority communities from law enforcement abuse to invalidate common-sense gun laws.
THE CASE
In response to the 1991 beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police, Congress passed 34 U.S.C. § 12601, which makes it illegal for government authorities or law enforcement officers to engage in a “pattern or practice” that deprives individuals of their constitutional rights. For decades, D.O.J. has used “Section 12601” as intended: to address police misconduct. Now D.O.J. is invoking Section 12601 to argue that local government enforcement of strong gun laws systematically violates the Second Amendment. D.O.J. is testing this legal theory in the US Virgin Islands, Washington D.C., Colorado, and Denver.
The Denver ordinance that D.O.J. is trying to invalidate has been in place for four decades. It prohibits assault weapons and large-capacity magazines like those used in the Columbine, Aurora theater, and Boulder King Soopers massacres, and it has been upheld in multiple previous court challenges.
THE TEAM
Denver is represented pro bono by Free + Fair and Everytown for Gun Safety.
CASE DOCUMENTS
Featured Press
The city of Denver urged a Colorado federal judge to dismiss the U.S. Department of Justice's challenge to the city's assault weapons and large-capacity magazine bans, arguing that the government is stretching a police-misconduct statute beyond its reach to attack local gun laws.
Law360 August 12, 2026
