Blue State Suffers Setback In Fight To Defend Gun Tax

A Colorado judge on Monday refused to dismiss El Paso County District Attorney Michael Allen as a defendant in a suit challenging a 6.5% tax the state placed on firearms.

Harold Hutchison · Jul 29, 2026 · 2 min read

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A Colorado judge on Monday refused to dismiss El Paso County District Attorney Michael Allen as a defendant in a suit challenging a 6.5% tax the state placed on firearms.

Colorado voters approved the tax via Proposition KK, which imposed the duty on firearms, firearm parts and ammunition in the November 2024 election. District Court Judge Andrew McCallin explained two reasons why he denied Allen’s motion to dismiss in a brief one-page order.

“Defendant Allen first argues that Plaintiffs lack standing to bring this action against him. However, Magnum Shooting Center of Colorado Springs points out that it would potentially face prosecution if it refused to comply with C.R.S. §§ 39-37-101 et seq,” McCallin wrote. “This threat of possible prosecution is sufficient to confer standing on Defendant Magnum in this action. Furthermore, the complaint states a plausible declaratory judgment claim against Defendant Allen.”

Allen did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

In the initial complaint filed in March 2025, the Colorado State Shooting Association, the Firearms Policy Coalition and the National Rifle Association accused the state of “infringement by taxation.”

“Proposition KK will—as intended—financially burden both vendors and consumers seeking to exercise or facilitate the exercise of Second Amendment rights,” the complaint states.

The Justice Department has also filed lawsuits targeting laws in the state. One lawsuit, filed against Denver, seeks to throw out the city’s ban on modern semiautomatic firearms, while another legal action seeks to invalidate the magazine ban the state imposed.

Colorado passed its ban on standard-capacity magazines holding more than 15 rounds of ammunition in 2013, months after a mass shooting in an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater and the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. The state has received high grades from gun-control groups Everytown and Giffords Law Center for its laws.

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