July 26, 2022 11:23 AM UTC

Dudley Brown's Truth Is Marching On

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• by: Colorado Pols

While most of the public outrage has been focused on the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision overturning the federally guaranteed right to abortion established in Roe v. Wade, another decision by the rightward-skewed Court this session is beginning to reverberate–troublingly for the overwhelming majority of Americans who support tighter restrictions on gun ownership.

As the Denver Post’s Jennifer Leduc reports, a right given just last year to municipalities in Colorado to pass locally binding gun regulations is under threat in the aftermath of the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen decision:

A U.S. District Court judge on Friday issued the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners a temporary restraining order preventing the town of Superior from enforcing its recently enacted ordinance against certain types of assault weapons.

The ordinance, passed in June, also limits the possession and discharge of firearms, the possession and sale of illegal weapons, and the carrying of concealed weapons.

In a statement released on social media Friday, the RMGO Executive Director Taylor Rhodes called the temporary restraining order “a massive win for gun rights in the State of Colorado.” The gun ownership group is also suing the town.

Colorado Newsline:

The temporary order bars the town from enforcing its prohibition of the possession, sale or other transferring of assault weapons, large-capacity magazines, rapid-fire trigger activators and certain other weapons. The order also halts a certificate and background check requirement for owners who possessed these weapons before July 1.

The order does not address a portion of the town’s ban that says gun owners cannot openly carry firearms in a public place.

“We believe this spells the end of the Colorado mag ban. And to Colorado cities with similar ordinances — you’re next,” Dudley Brown, president of the RMGO, said in a statement. [Pols emphasis]

Speaking to Denver7, Rocky Mountain Gun Owners spokesghoul Taylor Rhodes is bullish on the prospect of dismantling Colorado’s recently-passed gun safety laws, especially the much-reviled limit on gun magazine capacity passed in 2013:

Rhodes believes the SCOTUS decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen could impact RMGO’s case in Colorado.

“The Bruen decision gave us a four-ton wrecking ball to dismantle any and all unconstitutional gun laws here in the state of Colorado,” he said. [Pols emphasis] “This could actually lift the statewide magazine ban that was instituted in 2013. But not only that, it could block any type of assault weapons ban or classification ban meaning accessories.”

We know better than to take legal advice from RMGO, but there’s no question that the Bruen decision has emboldened opponents of gun safety laws to take action. This temporary injunction may or may not lead to anything permanent, and a local assault weapon ban was not the precise subject matter of Bruen decision. A preliminary injunction hearing next week will tell us more about where this challenge is headed.

Politically, however, this could well turn like abortion into a case of the dog finally catching the car. Colorado Republicans have been obsessed with repealing gun Colorado’s enhanced gun safety laws ever since they were first passed in 2013 despite their popularity. If those laws start to unravel under judicial challenge, like with abortion, voters may take their frustration out on Republicans at the polls.

None of which will trouble Dudley Brown and the single-issue fanatics at RMGO, who have always cared much more about caressing their guns than electing Republicans. The political fallout for Republicans is immaterial to RMGO, which played a role in their loss of influence in the recent Republican primary elections.

In the post-Bruen world, Dudley Brown has a new lease on life–whether local Republicans like it or not.