Clarification on Colorado "large-capacity magazine" ban

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Blarelli

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I'm considering a move to Colorado and am trying to figure out what can and can't come with me. I can't seem to find a straight answer regarding what is and isn't illegal to bring into the state. Would the magazines I purchased prior to the passage of the law outside of the state meet the exception to possess, or am I just asking for trouble by bringing any 16+ capacity mags into the state regardless of age?
 
Personally, I would not take the risk, but the choice is up to you. According to the Colorado law:

(2) (a) a person may possess a large-capacity magazine if he or she:
(I) owns the large capacity magazine on the effective date of this section; and
(II) maintains continuous possession of the large-capacity magazine.​
(b) if a person who is alleged to have violated subsection (1) of this section asserts that he or she is permitted to legally possess a large-capacity magazine pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subsection (2), the prosecution has the burden of proof to refute the assertion.​
If you maintain that you owned and continuously possessed the magazines in question since before July 1, 2013, if charged it would be up to the prosecution to prove that you did not. The Colorado law says nothing about having to have continuously possessed them in the state of Colorado, but the law does prohibit the transfer of such magazines. Since the law does not specifically address if it considers someone moving into the state and bringing large-capacity magazines that they own as a 'transfer,' it would be up to a court to interpret the act to clarify what continuous possession and transfer means.

If you want to be the test case, then you would have a definitive answer. Otherwise, I doubt you will get a definitive 'yes' or 'no' to your question. On the bright side, first offense violation is a class 2 misdemeanor, which is punishable by a maximum of 12 months in prison and/or a $1,000 fine, so you wouldn't be a prohibited person if convicted.

Or hope for a repeal to pass prior to your move.
 
As a Colorado resident, it would be hard to prosecute for that law for the above poster's reason. In addition, no one is really enforcing that law, and 54 of 64 sheriff's have challenged it in court. I believe they were not able to go ahead with their challenge, as they lacked standing though.

There was one person charged for the magazine law, but his is an interesting case, as he made threats to burn down a school and some other things. I don't recall the whole story, as it was a few years back.

One place to be careful with is in the front range metro areas. Denver has its own gun ordinances that differ from the state. There are a mish-mash of conservative and liberal cities and towns throughout Colorado.
 
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