Lawsuit challenges Colorado and Denver concealed-carry restrictions for non-residents

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What we know

A lawsuit has been filed challenging concealed-carry restrictions in Colorado and Denver. The legal action targets restrictions that apply to non-residents.

Patriot Watch first flagged this story 10 hr ago, when Bearing Arms reported it. So far this remains a single-source report. The most recent report came 10 hr ago from Bearing Arms.

⚖ The Constitutional Angle

The plaintiffs will argue that carrying a handgun for self-defense in public falls within the Second Amendment's plain text, so under Bruen the government must show that restricting non-residents mirrors the Nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation. Wolford reinforced that states may not flip historic carry defaults against the law-abiding; the fight will be over whether a residency distinction has any genuine historical analogue.

New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Kevin P. Bruen, Superintendent of New York State Police 597 U.S. 1 (2022)

Vote: 6-3 · Opinion: Thomas

New York's requirement that applicants demonstrate 'proper cause' — a special need for self-protection distinguishable from the general community — to obtain an unrestricted public-carry license violates the Fourteenth Amendment by preventing law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms in public. The Court held the Second Amendment protects a right to carry handguns publicly for self-defense, and rejected the two-step means-end framework lower courts had applied after Heller.

Jason Wolford v. Anne E. Lopez, Attorney General of Hawaii 609 U.S. ___ (2026) (slip op.); U.S. Reports page not yet assigned

Vote: 6-3 · Opinion: Alito

Hawaii's law (Haw. Rev. Stat. § 134-9.5(a) (2023)) prohibiting licensed concealed-carry permit holders from carrying handguns on private property open to the public without the owner's express authorization violates the Second and Fourteenth Amendments. The decision restores the common-law default: a person lawfully carrying enjoys the implied license to enter property held open to the public unless the owner withdraws consent — a State may not flip that default to require express permission.

Precedent facts from the PW Law Library — primary-source verified & independently audited