AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli

Magazine restrictions are a favorite of gun control. For some reason, anti-gunners think that magazine limits aren’t arbitrary limits that have little impact on criminal activity or anything of the sort. They’ve pushed for them almost non-stop since the federal assault weapon ban sunset a decade and a half ago.

Colorado passed a magazine limit law in the immediate aftermath of the tragic theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado. It did not go well, with several lawmakers who voted for the law being recalled.

Invariably, it also sparked lawsuits. Now, it seems such a case is going to the Colorado Supreme Court.

The fight over one of the most controversial gun bills ever to come out of the state Capitol rages on.

Colorado’s ban on gun magazines that can hold more than 15 rounds of ammunition was one of a handful of gun control measures passed in the aftermath of the 2013 Aurora theater shooting.

State gun lobby Rocky Mountain Gun Owners and its executive director, Dudley Brown, originally sued the state in 2016. They say the law is unconstitutional.

But state district courts ruled that prohibiting the sale, transfer or possession of large-capacity magazines for firearms was constitutional. In 2018, the Colorado Court of Appeals upheld the lower court’s decision saying the statue was a reasonable exercise of the state’s police power for the protection of public health and safety.

Now Colorado’s Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case, and Brown thinks that is a good sign.

“We think it’s a good indicator that not only were our arguments persuasive that this magazine ban really hasn’t done anything to stop crime and also that the California case, which struck down California’s magazine prohibition, has some bearing on our case,” he said.

For my Colorado friends’ sake, I hope Brown is right.

However, it should be noted that a Supreme Court agreeing to hear a case doesn’t mean it’ll necessarily side with gun owners. Of course, I’m also not saying it won’t. I’m not familiar enough with Colorado’s Supreme Court to begin to speculate on which way it’ll fall.

But I also don’t like leaving things like this up to the courts, either.

While I think we should file a lawsuit on every bit of gun control that gets passed, I don’t like the idea of the only hope for our gun rights lying in the hands of judges, some of whom seem to rationalize the constitutionality of laws to conform to their political ideology. Once that happens, it’s a nightmare trying to get it changed.

I’d much rather see these wins happen in the legislature where possible.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d be tickled to death to see the United States Supreme Court overturn any gun control law on the books, but that’s because I know the makeup of the Court. I have at least some idea which way they’ll fall beforehand. Maybe not the extent of a decision, but that it’ll be pro-gun.

None of that matters, in the grand scheme of things. Reality doesn’t conform to my wishes, which means at least some gun laws will have to be decided by the courts.

Hopefully, this court has its head screwed on straight and can recognize the constitutional flaws with magazine limit regulations.