Chapter 10 - § 10.14 • FIREARMS

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 10.14 • FIREARMS

There are associations that have firearm restrictions. These, not surprisingly, are controversial. The question of the validity of these restrictions, however, does not yet appear to have been the subject of litigation.⁴⁸⁹ Some opponents of the restrictions argue that they violate the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution; however, whether courts would apply the federal constitution to a private community is doubtful,⁴⁹⁰ although there has been a lively debate, at least among journal commentators, about the extent to which common interest communities should be considered to be like municipal governments.⁴⁹¹ Constitutional arguments aside, one commentary contends that restrictive covenants proscribing firearms are invalid because they do not "touch and concern the land."⁴⁹²

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Notes:

^[489] Wahl, "Keeping Heller Out of the Home: Homeowners Associations and the Right to Keep and Bear Arms," 15 U. Pa. J. Const. L. 1003, 1004 (2013).

^[490] See Boudreaux, "Homes, Rights, and Private Communities," 20 U. Fla. J.L. & Pub. Pol'y 479 (2009) (bar would likely be found valid). Compare Fritz, "Check Your Rights and Your Guns at the Door: Questioning the Validity of Restrictive Covenants Against the Right to Bear Arms," 35 Sw. U. L. Rev. 551 (2007) (right to bear arms is fundamental constitutional right not subject to abrogation by "private" actors).

^[491] See, e.g., Gravdal, "Governing Boards: Courts Have Consistently Ruled that HOAs Are Legally Similar to Municipal Governments, But Questions Remain About How Close that Similarity Is," 35 L.A. Law. 30 (2013); Franzese & Siegel...