Can a lease agreement prohibit gun possession?

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iceman7708

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Hi there,

I recently signed a lease on my new apartment in Greeley, Colorado. One of the clauses in the lease prohibits me from posessing any firearms, bb guns, or switchblades. I was wondering if anyone knows of any Colorado laws or of any case law that might help me to fight this clause with the management. Any help would be greatly appreciated because I fell as though I have lost my 2nd ammendment right to bear arms. Also, don't we have the right to be safe in our homes as well as defend them?:cuss:
 
I think that clause is in the standard contract everyone uses. I had the same clause in college and well, when it came to guns in my apartment in Ft. Collins (I miss that place) my roommate and I just didn't mention them to the managers...

For 2 years at the same apartment, it was never a problem.

Don't ask permission, don't tell them your intent. What they don't know won't hurt them cause trust me, they have no intention of making sure you're in compliance with every clause of your lease. As long as you're making your rent payment, and not destroying the structure, you'll be fine. I found that the two times I had to call maintainance, keeping the guns in the closet and shutting the door put them out of sight and out of mind.
 
Next time you see a clause like that, either cross it out and initial the change, or don't sign it. That is not a customary clause.
 
Wow, I didn't expect that here in Colorado. Basically, as I understand the law, as soon as you sign that lease it's your home. They cannot strip basic rights from you for your home as long as you're not breaking laws.

Saying "well, you can't have guns here" would be viewed in the same legal light as "you can't have Asians here."

I agree with crossing it out and initialing, though I simply had my leasing agent remove it from the lease - they KNEW I was a gunsmith when I leased the apartment, of course I have guns.
 
First: It is completely legal for you to sign away any rights you choose to.

Second: An apartment, legally leased, becomes your domicile. All rights and such apply to that.

Third: If they want to screw with eviction proceedings over something like this, more power to them. What I do in the privacy of my own home, as long as it is not in and of itself illegal, is none of their G-D business.
 
I'm not sure what the exact legalities are, I think it would come down to wether or not the contract is enforceable.

My question is why did you sign a lease agreement you had no intention of abiding by?
 
Freedom of Contract. You can sign away anything in a private contract. All that would happen if they found out is you would be in breech of your lease and who knows what sort of diabolical terms they have in the lease for that. Like ending your right of possession with the remainder of the $$$$ due
 
Just be careful and don't leave anything firearm related (including magazines/books) out should the maintenance guy come in or something. I don't know if it was legal or not, but when I lived in Texas, the maintenance guy would come in when I wasn't home with ZERO written notice of any kind to change the air conditioner filter or spray for bugs. Got busted for having an "illegal" cat, too. Pissed me off to no end that they could just come in unannounced. Good thing I didn't CCW back then because there's a very good chance they'd have been shot had they pulled that sh^t and I was home.
 
I would claim that firearms are an integral part of my "peoples" heritage. If they still ban them, file a suit for discrimination just like how they can't ban blacks, indians, orientals, etc.
 
Contracts with non-disclosure clauses are enforced every day. They give up their freedom of speech over certain issues in order to settle some disagreement.
You have given up your 2a rights willingly in return for the apartment lease.
This clause releases the apartment owner of any liability if you shoot someone while residing in his his property. It is illegal for them to discriminate based on race,religion,sex, not gun ownership.
 
It is legal. It may or may not be enforceable depending upon the laws of your state.

Chances are, however, that it is both legal and enforceable. The apartment, even though it is your "domicile" as someone else put it, is not your own property and as such is subject to any lawful restriction placed upon it by the property owner or the owner's designated agent. A "lawful restriction" is simply any restriction that is not expressly prohibited by law. The owner of private property is within his rights to specify that no firearms are allowed on that property.

The comparison of "you can't have guns" to "you can't have Asians" is invalid. Specifying race is expressly prohibited by the Fair Housing Act (and numerous State and Federal anti-discrimination laws) and is thus not a lawful restriction, even for private property (if that property is a business). Gun owners are not a protected class and the property owner's right to restrict access to his property takes precedence in that case.

That said, the potential legal ramifications from violation of that portion of your lease are simply that you may be evicted.
 
I have been a landlord for over 10 years and have taken a lot of folks to court. The rules are pretty simple: If I put something in a lease - and you sign it - then I can enforce it.

All the legal eagles will jump in here and yell about 2A, but the bottom line is when you sign that contract you're legally bound by the terms.

This being said, I do not have this clause in my leases...
 
Can a lease agreement prohibit gun possession?
Click to expand...

Yes. Anything can be a condition of a lease.

Can the condition be enforced? Yes. If the lease is voluntarily signed and there are no state or federal regulations counter to the prohibition then it is fully enforceable.

Brad
 
It is in no way shape or form an infringement upon your 2A rights. You signed the lease. You agreed to it's terms. You are bound to live up to the conditions in the lease you signed. How did the landlord take away anything from you? You're the one who agreed to abide by those conditions.

The only thing they can do is evict you, it is a civil matter and not a criminal matter so long as all the guns are owned legally.
 
Don't say a word. Keep your guns out of sight. Clean them with something other than Hoppes. (Yes, a neighbor did find out I had a gun because she smelled Hoppes No 9. She didn't give a crap about it, but she knew I was cleaning a gun. That smell is distinctive and travels pretty far.)

If you pay your rent on time and don't cause the landlord any grief, he won't give a crap what you do in your apartment -- as long as he doesn't see it or hear about it. In fact, he probably won't want to know.

That's a message from the real world. Unless your landlord wants you out of the place, he just doesn't want to see or hear about your guns.

The LAST thing you should do is go and bring this up with management.

It's probably enforceable, but nobody will want to enforce it. Don't give them a reason. And the worst thing that can happen is that you're thrown out.
 
Hmmm. Never thought about the smell from gun cleaning supplies. Simple Green works well from what I've heard. Never used it myself, but it won't have a distinct "gun oil" odor.
 
iceman said:
I recently signed a lease on my new apartment in Greeley, Colorado. One of the clauses in the lease prohibits me from posessing any firearms, bb guns, or switchblades. I was wondering if anyone knows of any Colorado laws or of any case law that might help me to fight this clause with the management. Any help would be greatly appreciated because I fell as though I have lost my 2nd ammendment right to bear arms. Also, don't we have the right to be safe in our homes as well as defend them?
Click to expand...

Why did you sign the lease if you had an objection that you did not want to live with on it?

Czar said:
I think that clause is in the standard contract everyone uses. I had the same clause in college and well, when it came to guns in my apartment in Ft. Collins (I miss that place) my roommate and I just didn't mention them to the managers...
Click to expand...

I just recently found an apartment I'm going to need for next year in California (San Diego Area). There is no such clause about firearms (which I made quite sure of), and the only thing on it is supposedly the stuff mandated/stated by California law regarding housing. I'll have to check that, but the point is that there aren't very many restrictions at all, and certainly none regarding firearms. Remember- San Diego, California.

PTK said:
Wow, I didn't expect that here in Colorado. Basically, as I understand the law, as soon as you sign that lease it's your home. They cannot strip basic rights from you for your home as long as you're not breaking laws.
Click to expand...

It is not your "home" unless you agree to the lease. If that lease has stipulations you don't abide by, technically, you don't have permission to "own" the property and it is not your "home."
 
Now it would be illegal if the clause was not in the lease that you signed and THEN the landlord tried to add that condition later.
 
Smile and Lie...

Shake thier hands, smile in thier faces and be agreeable - a real nice boy. Then, simply ignore thier stupid rules on gun possession, but keep your guns out of sight. It's not illegal - it's simply a civil matter.

NASCAR


PS Learn how to "lie-to-power" - and do so elegantly, for it is as more important for your protection than packing.
 
I knew a guy when I was in the Navy who just crossed that part out on the lease. They never said anything about it because they probably just filed it away and never even looked at it. In his defense, his "pink" (or whatever) carbon copy had the crossed out marks transferred so it's not like he just crossed out his copy. :evil:
 
Did you read it before you signed it? I wouldn't sign such a lease.

Send you landlord a certified letter informing him that as he required you to give up your firearms as a term of the lease, that you were holding him personally responsible for your safety and security since the conditions of the lease deprived you of your ability to defend yourself.
 
ArmedBear said:
LOL

I take it you don't live here now...

What part of town you moving to?
Click to expand...

Going to college here. Not much choice. :( Just found an apartment with a good lease that would be convenient for me as far as getting to school goes.
 
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