The Department of Justice announced Tuesday it was suing Denver, Colorado, over a ban on modern semiautomatic firearms, citing its inclusion of the AR-15.
Denver passed the ban in 1989, shortly after a gunman with a lengthy arrest record used a semiautomatic rifle that bore a superficial resemblance to the AK-47 to kill multiple children at a Stockton, California, day care center. In court documents, the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division said the ordnance targeting so-called “assault weapons” should not be enforced against those who owned AR-15s with 30-round magazines, the standard capacity for the rifle.
“There cannot be the slightest question that millions of Americans have chosen to equip themselves with AR-15 style rifles with standard capacity magazines, and they use those ordinary semiautomatic rifles for a variety of lawful purposes, including but not limited to self-defense,” the DOJ said in the complaint filed Tuesday in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado.
I’ve directed the @CivilRights Division, through our new Second Amendment Section, to defend law-abiding Americans from unconstitutional restrictions. No one should face criminal penalties simply for exercising a right shared by tens of millions—regardless of where they live.…
— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) May 5, 2026
“When the City banned AR-15 style rifles with standard capacity magazines, it banned an arm in common use for lawful purposes by law-abiding citizens,” the DOJ added. “Therefore, the Ordinance violates the Second Amendment, and the United States brings this action to vindicate the rights of Denver citizens whose rights have been—and are continuing to be—violated by Defendants.”
Democratic Denver Mayor Mike Johnson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“Assault weapons” is a euphemism that gun-control advocates use to gain support for banning certain semi-automatic firearms with features that provide a cosmetic similarity to firearms capable of fully-automatic operation. The National Shooting Sports Foundation estimated that over 24 million “modern sporting rifles,” which include the AR-15, are “in circulation” in a July 2022 release.
“I have directed the Civil Rights Division, through our new Second Amendment Section, to defend law-abiding Americans from restrictions such as those we are challenging in these cases,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said. “Law-abiding Americans, regardless of what city or state they reside in, should not have to live under threat of criminal sanction just for exercising their Second Amendment right to possess arms which are owned by tens of millions of their fellow citizens.”
“The Constitution is not a suggestion and the Second Amendment is not a second-class right,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said. “Denver’s ban on commonly owned semi-automatic rifles directly violates the right to bear arms. This Department of Justice will vigorously defend the liberties of law-abiding citizens nationwide.”
Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed a similar state-wide ban into law in 2025. The DOJ declined to comment about whether that law would also be challenged in court.
A top NRA leader praised the Trump administration for filing the litigation against Denver’s gun ban,
“This is exactly what gun owners voted for,” said NRA-ILA Executive Director John Commerford. “The Trump administration has been relentless in defending the Second Amendment, and today’s lawsuit against Denver’s unconstitutional AR-15 ban is another powerful example.”
“It’s long past time that progressive politicians are held accountable for trampling the God-given rights of law-abiding citizens, and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is doing precisely that,” Commerford continued.
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