Carry in Colorado

[bearcreek]

I'm going to be going out to Colorado next month for some job training and was just looking at handgunlaw.us. It appears that I'm out of luck as far as carrying goes as Colorado does not honor my Ohio resident permit or my PA non-resident permit. As far as I've been able to tell, Colorado does not honor anyone's non-resident permit. Am I correct in these assumptions? Do I have another option that I'm not aware of? Opencarry.org was not quite clear on non-resident open carry, at least outside of Denver.

 

[NavyLCDR]

Colorado state law preempts all local firearms law, EXCEPT in Denver. Therefore, unlicensed open carry by non-Colorado residents is legal in Colorado everywhere EXCEPT Denver (and those places prohibited in State law, of course, such as schools.)

I have flown into Denver and rented a car. As soon as I hit the Denver county line, I pulled over, got the gun out of the case, loaded up and open carried. I have also open carried all the way through the state of Colorado on travels by car.

 

[bearcreek]

Thanks. That's the info I was looking for. Do you have a link to the statute/law that says that? Or is CO one of the states like here in Ohio where the right is considered legal because of no law against it?

 

[IlikeSA]

Colorado is considered OC because there is no law prohibiting it, just watch for signs (they are fairly few, and mainly in the Denver area). What part of Colorado are you visiting? There is an OC meet coming up soon in Colorado Springs.

 

[Roger Ronas]

Have any more info on that OC meet in C/S? I am new to site and reentering firearms, would like to get caught up on info.
Thanks
Roger

 

[NavyLCDR]

Correct, there is simply no law prohibiting open carry, therefore it is legal.

 

[Standing Wolf]

Well, no, not quite exactly. Colorado law pertaining to open carry has preemption with exceptions. To the best of my knowledge, there are two exceptions:

1. Home rule cities can prohibit open carry, which Denver does. What's a "home rule city?" Denver. It's big enough to claim to be an extra-special exception, and manages to be such. Most of the rest of the state believes Denver wants to be the next San Francisco, but never mind that. Denver has passed an ordinance against openly carried firearms, and because it's extra-special, it can legally do so.
2. Local ordinance. If a city, town, or village wants to prohibit open carrying of firearms, it may do so, providing it so notifies the public. Oh, yeah? So I've been informed by a lawyer who keeps up with these matters. According to him, it's illegal to carry openly in Boulder, where it's also illegal to smoke in public. Telluride, an old hippy town way off in the boonies, also prohibited open carry and put up signs, but hasn't prohibited public smoking. My local DMV office has a sign on the entrance to prohibit open carry, but says nothing about concealed carry.

Colorado is a wonderful state in many respects, but preemption isn't quite exactly real preemption.

 

[NavyLCDR]

Just because a local municipality (city or county) has an ordinance on the books does not mean that the ordinance is legal or enforceable. Here is the summary of Colorado's preemption laws:

http://www.opencarry.org/co.html

Summary
Colorado was once one of our "Gold Star" open carry states. However, Denver filed and won a suit challenging the states excellent preemption law. Consequently, both open carry and unlicensed open car carry in Denver are prohibited. There are reports that other localities are planning to follow suit. Currently, outside of Denver, car carry is unrestricted and localities are almost completely preempted in enforcing firearms restrictions, and must post specific facilities which are off limits to open carry.

Complete state preemption of firearms laws except that localities may prohibits the open carrying of firearms in a building or specific area within their jurisdiction.

Update: The Colorado Appeals Court has ruled that Denver is NOT subject to state preemption regarding open carry.

It all depends on what your personal goals are. My personal goal is to exercise my right to self protection, and I won't let an illegal local ordinance stop me from doing so. I've open carried in municipal parks right past illegal no firearms signs. The problem in Washington State with municipalities violating state law by prohibiting firearms is steadily getting better do to people not accepting the status quo, not allowing illegal ordinances to affect them, and insisting that local governments, just like Joe Citizen, obey state law.

Some people's goal is simply to not cause trouble, even if it means they limit themselves to obeying illegal ordinances enacted by governments against state law. There's nothing wrong with that, it's a personal choice each person makes.

Here is the actual Colorado preemption statute:

29-11.7-103. Regulation - type of firearm - prohibited.
A local government may not enact an ordinance, regulation, or other law that prohibits the sale, purchase, or possession of a firearm that a person may lawfully sell, purchase, or possess under state or federal law. Any such ordinance, regulation, or other law enacted by a local government prior to March 18, 2003, is void and unenforceable.

29-11.7-104. Regulation - carrying - posting.
A local government may enact an ordinance, regulation, or other law that prohibits the open carrying of a firearm in a building or specific area within the local government's jurisdiction. If a local government enacts an ordinance, regulation, or other law that prohibits the open carrying of a firearm in a building or specific area, the local government shall post signs at the public entrances to the building or specific area informing persons that the open carrying of firearms is prohibited in the building or specific area.

29-11.7-101. Legislative declaration.
(1) The general assembly hereby finds that:
(a) Section 3 of article II of the state constitution, the article referred to as the state bill of rights, declares that all persons have certain inalienable rights, which include the right to defend their lives and liberties;
(b) Section 13 of article II of the state constitution protects the fundamental right of a person to keep and bear arms and implements section 3 of article II of the state constitution;
(c) The general assembly recognizes a duty to protect and defend the fundamental civil rights set forth in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection (1);
(d) There exists a widespread inconsistency among jurisdictions within the state with regard to firearms regulations;
(e) This inconsistency among local government laws regulating lawful firearm possession and ownership has extraterritorial impact on state citizens and the general public by subjecting them to criminal and civil penalties in some jurisdictions for conduct wholly lawful in other jurisdictions;
(f) Inconsistency among local governments of laws regulating the possession and ownership of firearms results in persons being treated differently under the law solely on the basis of where they reside, and a person's residence in a particular county or city or city and county is not a rational classification when it is the basis for denial of equal treatment under the law;
(g) This inconsistency places citizens in the position of not knowing when they may be violating the local laws and therefore being unable to avoid violating the law and becoming subject to criminal and other penalties.

(2) Based on the findings specified in subsection (1) of this section, the general assembly concludes that:
(a) The regulation of firearms is a matter of statewide concern;
(b) It is necessary to provide statewide laws concerning the possession and ownership of a firearm to ensure that law-abiding persons are not unfairly placed in the position of unknowingly committing crimes involving firearms.

 

[bearcreek]

Colorado is considered OC because there is no law prohibiting it, just watch for signs (they are fairly few, and mainly in the Denver area). What part of Colorado are you visiting? There is an OC meet coming up soon in Colorado Springs.

Salida. Going to be attending some fire fighting training and hopefully do some hiking afterwards. When is the meeting in Colorado Springs?