Limitation on local ordinances regarding firearms in private vehicles.

1. Law
2. Colorado Revised Statutes
3. Criminal Code
4. Offenses Relating to Firearms and Weapons
5. Limitation on local ordinances regarding firearms in private vehicles.

1. The general assembly hereby finds that:

   1. A person carrying a weapon in a private automobile or other private means of conveyance for hunting or for lawful protection of such person's or another's person or property, as permitted in sections 18-12-105 (2)(b) and 18-12-105.5 (3)(c), may tend to travel within a county, city and county, or municipal jurisdiction or in or through different county, city and county, and municipal jurisdictions, en route to the person's destination;

   2. Inconsistent laws exist in local jurisdictions with regard to the circumstances underwhich weapons may be carried in automobiles and other private means of conveyance;

   3. This inconsistency creates a confusing patchwork of laws that unfairly subjects aperson who lawfully travels with a weapon to criminal penalties because he or she travels within a jurisdiction or into or through another jurisdiction;

   4. This inconsistency places citizens in the position of not knowing when they may beviolating local laws while traveling within a jurisdiction or in, through, or between different jurisdictions, and therefore being unable to avoid committing a crime.

2. (a) Based on the findings specified in subsection (1) of this section, the general assembly concludes that the carrying of weapons in private automobiles or other private means of conveyance for hunting or for lawful protection of a person's or another's person or property while traveling into, through, or within, a municipal, county, or city and county jurisdiction, regardless of the number of times the person stops in a jurisdiction, is a matter of statewide concern and is not an offense.

(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no municipality, county, or city and county shall have the authority to enact or enforce any ordinance or resolution that would restrict a person's ability to travel with a weapon in a private automobile or other private means of conveyance for hunting or for lawful protection of a person's or another's person or property while traveling into, through, or within, a municipal, county, or city and county jurisdiction, regardless of the number of times the person stops in a jurisdiction.

Source: L. 2000: Entire section added, p. 1009, § 2, effective August 2. L. 2003: Entire section amended, p. 651, § 1, effective March 18.

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