This Colorado county is taking gun control to an entirely new level.
The Boulder County Board of Supervisors passed five different gun control provisions in a Tuesday public hearing.
The county now bans anyone under the age of 21 from purchasing a firearm, period.
Existing federal law prevents adults under the age of 21 from buying handguns, but a complete ban on firearms purchases for an entire adult age demographic is seemingly unheard of in American law.
Semiautomatic rifles such as the AR-15 will no longer be legal to purchase, sell or manufacture in the county, along with other firearms the county is calling “assault weapons.”
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Boulder County residents who want to build their own unserialized firearms could find themselves in the county jail. The Board of Supervisors is banning privately created “ghost guns” that don’t require a serial number under federal law, according to The Blaze.
Another ordinance requires a mandatory waiting period for all firearm purchases.
Residents of the county will also be barred from carrying firearms in an open or concealed fashion near many public places, such as parks, places of worship and other open spaces on county land without express written permission.
The county’s extensive list of “gun-free zones” could all but prohibit the concealed carrying of weapons outside of one’s home.
Should guns be banned?
However, the bevy of restrictions will only take effect in unincorporated areas of Boulder County.
So-called “weapons” bans enacted at the levels of cities and counties have a shaky legal basis.
The Colorado legislature passed a bill asserting the rights of local governments to pass gun control laws in 2021.
An (incorporated) city within Boulder County, Superior, had its municipal “assault weapons” ban thrown out by a federal judge last week, according to the Reload.
It’s possible that Boulder County’s ban will face the same legal scrutiny.
Boulder County residents who oppose the glut of gun control measures are already planning on suing the county over the ordinances, according to Colorado Public Radio.
The county is overwhelmingly progressive, with Joe Biden securing more than 77 percent of the vote in Boulder County in the 2020 election.