Denver Mayor Mike Johnston said Monday the city will not bend the knee to a legal threat from the U.S. Department of Justice over the city’s longstanding assault weapons ban.
Last week, Harmeet Dhillon, an assistant attorney general with the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, wrote to Denver officials to inform them that the federal government intends to file a lawsuit in federal district court against the city and Denver Police Department for a Second Amendment violation.
“Law-abiding Americans own and use for lawful purposes literally tens of millions of AR-15 style rifles. Indeed, it is the most popular rifle in America. The City has banned an arm in common use for lawful purposes by law-abiding citizens. Therefore, the Ordinance violates the Second Amendment,” Dhillon wrote.
The ordinance bans the sale and possession of certain firearms within city limits.
The letter said the DOJ would consider delaying the lawsuit if the city were willing to negotiate an end to the ban. At minimum, the department requested Denver immediately stop enforcing the assault weapons ban, acknowledge the "unconstitutionality of the so-called assault weapon ban” and enter a court-enforceable consent decree that permanently prevents the city from banning assault weapons.
In a letter sent to the DOJ on Monday, Denver City Attorney Miko Brown described the request as “baseless, irresponsible, and a clear overreach of the federal government’s power.” Brown brought up several similar challenges to assault weapons bans across the nation that have failed.
“Therefore, even if your bald, unsupported statement that 'literally tens of millions of AR-15 style rifles' are held by private individuals is true (and you have presented no evidence showing it is), your point is irrelevant,” Brown wrote.
Johnston doubled down on the city’s defense of the ban on the steps of the City and County Building, flanked by Police Chief Ron Thomas, other city officials and gun control advocates.
The ban has been in place since 1989.
Denver City Council passed the assault weapons ban in 1989 following a spike in violent crime in the metro area. The ban came at the recommendation of Ari Zavaras, the police chief at the time.
“The city council hereby finds and declares that the use of assault weapons poses a threat to the health, safety, and security of all citizens of the City and County of Denver,” reads the Denver Code of Ordinances. “Further, the council finds that assault weapons are capable both of a rapid rate of fire as well as of a capacity to fire an inordinately large number of rounds without reloading and are designed primarily for military or antipersonnel use.”
The ban was almost immediately challenged, but has withstood several attempts to overturn it, according to The Denver Post. But this appears to be the first federal challenge to Denver’s assault weapons ban.
