On Tuesday, May 5, 2026, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the city of Denver, alleging its decades-old ban on AR-15-style rifles and other firearms covered by the city’s “assault weapon” ordinance violates the Second Amendment.
Since 1989, Denver has prohibited the possession and sale of firearms with magazines holding more than 15 rounds, including AR-15-style rifles and other weapons.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche stated in a statement: “The Constitution is not a suggestion, and the Second Amendment is not a second-class right.”
Blanche added that Denver’s ban on commonly owned semi-automatic rifles directly violates the right to bear arms, and the Department of Justice will vigorously defend the liberties of law-abiding citizens nationwide.
The lawsuit argues that Denver’s ordinance uses politically charged rhetoric. It also claims the term “assault weapon” is a political term developed by anti-gun publicists to expand the category of assault rifles to allow an attack on as many additional firearms as possible.
The complaint contends the ban is unconstitutional under the “Bruen step one” test established in the 2022 landmark case New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen, which governs how courts assess Second Amendment gun laws.
The complaint states: “When the Second Amendment’s plain text covers an individual’s conduct, the Constitution presumptively protects that conduct.” It adds, “Another way of saying this is that a law that restricts conduct covered by the plain text of the Second Amendment is presumptively unconstitutional.”
On April 28, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, sent a letter to Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and City Attorney Miko Brown, both Democrats, demanding the city stop enforcing the ban, acknowledge the law as unconstitutional, and enter into a consent decree.
Dhillon wrote: “The Second Amendment guarantees the right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms for self-defense. Arms in common use by law-abiding citizens are protected by the Constitution and may not be categorically banned.”
She continued: “The Ordinance bans many weapons, including AR-15-style semi-automatic rifles. 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.”
Johnston and other city leaders pushed back against potential litigation at a Denver news conference on Monday.
Johnston said: “Our first job is to keep Denverites safe, and we will not be intimidated out of doing it.”
He added: “Denver’s law has stood for 37 years because it works, it saves lives, and it reflects the values of our community. No demand or lawsuit from Washington is going to change that.”
In a letter responding to Dhillon, Brown called the Department of Justice’s demand “baseless, irresponsible, and a clear overreach of the federal government’s power.”
Brown also noted that multiple federal appellate courts have upheld similar bans after the Supreme Court’s Bruen ruling and argued that the Department of Justice is improperly using federal civil rights law to challenge a local ordinance.
