Gun owners and groups sue Colorado Gov. Jared Polis over homemade, "ghost" guns

Two pro-gun groups and three Colorado gun owners have filed a federal lawsuit against Colorado Gov. Jared Polis over a new law that bans so-called "ghost guns," or those that can be made at home using parts kits and which typically lack a serial number.

Proponents of the law say they should be banned due to their alleged rise in the commission of crimes and difficulty to track. Opponents, like the National Association of Gun Rights and Rocky Mountain Gun Owners -- who are plaintiffs in the lawsuit -- say the law restricts the Second Amendment rights of otherwise law-abiding gun owners who wish to make guns for personal use.

Legislation is being considered and legal challenges have been unfolding at the federal level and in several states over the past few years, but homemade firearms have never been prohibited at the federal level until recently, so long as they don't include other banned or regulated features, lawyers for the plaintiffs argue in their Jan. 1 lawsuit.

RELATED: Ghost guns banned under new Colorado law signed by governor

Polis signed the ban into law over the summer after the legislature passed it. He said the move was an effort to reduce gun violence and boost safety for Coloradans. The law took effect Monday with the start of the new year.

"Every Coloradan deserves to feel safe in their homes, schools, and communities without fear of gun violence," Polis said in a statement at the time.

The plaintiffs, who also include Colorado gun owners Christopher James Hiestand Richardson, Max Edwin Schlosser and John Mark Howard, say that the ban does nothing to stop criminals from using guns -- homemade or otherwise -- in crimes and only limits their ability to make firearms that generally don't differ from those that can be bought at most gun stores.

"This law is an outright assault on the constitutional rights of peaceable Coloradans. It's not just an overreach; it's a direct defiance to our Second Amendment freedoms," Taylor Rhodes, executive director of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, said in a statement. "We believe that this law, much like others that attempt to restrict gun rights, will not stand up under scrutiny, especially in light of the recent Supreme Court decision in Bruen."

A spokesman for Polis declined to comment on the lawsuit Monday.

Rocky Mountain Gun Owners has been vocal and taken several legal actions against new gun laws in Colorado, sometimes winning in court.

When a new law took effect in 2023 that added a waiting period to gun purchases, Rhodes said they would file suit. In 2022, they sued the state over its ban on magazines that hold over 15 rounds. And last year, a state law raising the minimum age to buy a gun from 18 to 21 was blocked by a federal judge.

A hearing date has not yet been set in the ghost gun case.