WEEK OF NOVEMBER 21, 2024
VOLUME 61 | ISSUE 16
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FLOWERS FOR VETERANS
Adams County Veterans Memorial gets weekend-long decoration P6
21-and-under gun ban clears federal court 10th Circuit judges end temporary injunction BY JOHN INGOLD THE COLORADO SUN
“It’s been the honor of a lifetime to serve the people of Colorado’s 8th district. I came to Congress to get things done and have spent the last two years working to find common ground and bipartisan solutions to the most pressing issues facing our community,” Caraveo said in a statement from her campaign.
A Colorado law passed last year requiring people to be at least 21 years old before they purchase a firearm — and prohibiting dealers from selling to anyone under 21 — can go into effect, a panel of federal appellate judges has ruled. The ruling from the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dissolves a temporary hold that a federal district court judge placed on the law in August 2023. But the ruling doesn’t end the legal challenge to the law. Instead, it sends the case back to the lower court for the much more detailed arguments that will ultimately decide whether the law can stand. The law was challenged by Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, a gun-rights advocacy group, as well as two people who said the law blocked them from buying a firearm to protect themselves. One of those plaintiffs has since turned 21. They argued that the law violates their Second Amendment rights. But the appeals court panel concluded that argument isn’t clear-cut enough to be entitled to a temporary injunction against the law. “The best reading is that (the law) is presumptively lawful because the agedbased condition or qualification on the conduct it proscribes falls outside the scope of the plain text of the Second Amendment,” the judges found in their opinion. In another section, the judges added: “It seems evident that the necessity of some minimum age requirement is widely accepted — after all, no one is reasonably arguing that 8-year-olds should be allowed to purchase guns.” The case involves a law passed in 2023,Senate Bill 169. The law changes the minimum age to purchase a firearm to 21 from 18 in Colorado. Supporters argue that the law is meant to reduce youth suicides, accidental shootings and gun violence. Purchasers under the age of 21 as well as unlicensed firearm sellers could face a class-2 misdemeanor for violating the law. Licensed firearms dealers who break the law face a class 1 misdemeanor.
SEE RACE, P2
SEE 21-AND-UNDER, P31
Caraveo concedes 8th Congressional District race BY MONTE WHALEY MWHALEY@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Democratic incumbent Yadira Caraveo on Sunday conceded to Republican Gabe Evans in the hardfought race for Colorado’s 8th Congressional District. The two had ran nearly neck-and-neck since voting began Tuesday night with Caraveo holding a narrow
lead heading into the weekend. Evans pulled ahead after votes started trickling in from conservative Weld County, which is part of the far-flung 8th District. It was created in 2022 and Caraveo won the seat with just more than 1,632 votes over her Republican opponent that year. As of 3:20 p.m. Sunday, Evans leads Caraveo by 2,596
VOICES: 8 | CULTURE: 10 | BRIEFS: 16
votes. The Associated Press said that 92% of votes in the district, which includes parts of Weld, Larimer and Adams, counties have been counted. The race has not been officially called by the AP. But Caraveo conceded, saying she looks forward to returning to Washington D.C. to finish out her term, according to a statement posted by Channel9 News.
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