Lawsuit challenges constitutionality of Prop KK guns and ammunition tax

An El Paso County resident, a Colorado licensed firearms dealer and several gun rights advocacy organizations are asking for an injunction in Denver District Court to halt a new state excise tax on guns and ammunition.

Zachary Langston along with the National Rifle Association, the Colorado State Shooting Association (CSSA), the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC), the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), and Magnum Shooting Center of Colorado Springs are asking a judge to stop Proposition KK from taking effect...

Proposition KK — passed in November with 54 percent of the vote — will add a 6.5 percent excise tax on the manufacture and sale of firearms and ammunition...

The lawsuit was filed on the basis that the tax is unconstitutional because it does not pass a “means-end” test handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 2022 Bruen decision. That historical case ruled that gun rights restrictions must be consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulations.

Taxing an enumerated right

“The United States Supreme Court has repeatedly held in various contexts that the exercise of a constitutional right cannot be singled out for special taxation,” says the complaint in part, filed on March 31.

“Federal legislation to prevent this sort of tax was introduced just days ago in both the House and Senate,” SAF Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb said. “... You simply cannot tax the exercise of a constitutionally-protected fundamental right.”

The tax went into effect April 1.

Colorado became the first state to impose such a tax through a ballot initiative, 11 other states have similar excise taxes that were enacted through the state legislature...