Denver Sued Over Nonresident Carry Ban: Why the Win Will Look Like a Permit, Not Reciprocity

If you live in California, New York, or a dozen other states and you visit Denver, there is no legal way for you to carry a handgun there. Not concealed. Not openly. Nothing.

A new federal lawsuit filed on September 29, 2026, is trying to change that. The case is Hoffman v. City and County of Denver, and it was brought by the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) and FPC member Gene Hoffman in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.

Denver and Colorado are starting to see the lawsuits stack up over their anti-gun policies. Its going to be a fun few years ahead not just for those of us who live here but for the rest of the gun rights community.

We’ve watched this exact fight play out in other states over the last two years, and the result has been consistent.

What the Lawsuit Challenges

No single law in Colorado bans visitors from carrying. The problem is how three rules stack on top of each other.

How Colorado’s Rules Box Out Visitors

First, Colorado only issues Concealed Handgun Permits to Colorado residents. There is no nonresident Colorado permit.

Second, Colorado only honors another state’s permit if that state honors Colorado’s permit in return (in theory), and only if the permit holder actually lives in the state that issued it. According to the complaint, Colorado lacks reciprocity with 15 states and the District of Columbia: California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, and Washington. (Colorado Legal Summary Here)

Third, Colorado state law generally allows open carry, but Denver bans it inside city and county limits.

Put those together and a law-abiding visitor from one of those states has zero lawful options in Denver. The complaint puts it bluntly: for that whole class of people, Denver is effectively a gun-free zone.

The Supreme Court has made it clear over and over and over again the people have a right to be armed outside their home in this country. In public. The courts have made it clear that open carry or concealed carry will do, but one or the other must be an option.

Who Is Being Sued

The defendants are the City and County of Denver, the director of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, the chief of the Colorado State Patrol, the Denver District Attorney, the Denver chief of police, and the Denver sheriff. FPC is represented by Cooper & Kirk, the same firm that has handled a long list of major Second Amendment cases.

The complaint raises two claims. The first is a straightforward Second and Fourteenth Amendment challenge under Bruen. The second is a Privileges and Immunities Clause claim under Article IV, which says a state can’t treat citizens of other states as second-class simply because they live somewhere else.

This Isn’t the Only Denver Case

FPC isn’t first in line here. On August 31, 2026, the NRA and the Colorado State Shooting Association announced their own lawsuit, Howeth v. City and County of Denver, challenging the same combination of state and city rules on behalf of members from Hawaii and South Carolina. Two well-funded groups attacking the same gap is usually a sign the gap is a soft target.

We’ve Seen This Movie Before

Since Bruen, gun owners have challenged nonresident carry bans in several of the most restrictive states in the country. They’ve won pretty much every time. But look closely at what they won.

California

California had no reciprocity with anyone and no way for nonresidents to get a permit. Two federal cases changed that.

In California Rifle & Pistol Association v. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett issued a preliminary injunction in January 2025. Starting April 22, 2025, members of CRPA, SAF, GOA, and Gun Owners of California could apply for a California permit as nonresidents. We covered that ruling here.

Then in Hoffman v. Bonta (a different Hoffman, Christopher J. Hoffman), Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo of the Southern District of California ruled on July 1, 2025, that California’s nonresident ban was unconstitutional. On August 21, 2025, she issued a permanent injunction letting FPC members apply.

Then California did what California does. The legislature passed AB 1078, which took effect January 1, 2026, and created a statewide process for nonresidents to apply for a carry license, complete with its own extra paperwork and conditions. With the statute on the books, the court dissolved the Hoffman injunction in January 2026.

What California never did was honor a single out-of-state permit. Reciprocity was not on the table, and no court ordered it.

New York

New York went the same direction. In August 2025, Judge Mae D’Agostino ruled in Higbie v. James that New York couldn’t shut nonresidents out of its licensing process. We wrote about that one too. A separate FPC case, Shaffer v. Quattrone, ended in a settlement in which New York acknowledged that its law doesn’t require residency to apply.

Result: you can apply for a New York license as a nonresident. New York still honors exactly zero out-of-state permits.

Hawaii and the Rest

In April 2026, Hawaii agreed to stop enforcing its residency requirement against Virginia resident Johnathon Solinsky and members of the Hawaii Rifle Association. Same outcome. Nonresidents in that group can apply for a Hawaii license. No reciprocity.

Louisiana repealed its residency requirement after FPC sued. Lawsuits are pending against Massachusetts over its burdensome nonresident process and against Oregon, which issues nonresident licenses only in narrow circumstances and honors no other state’s permits.

Notice the pattern. Every one of these wins opened the application window. None of them forced a state to honor someone else’s permit.

What a Win in Denver Would Actually Look Like

If I had to bet, here’s how this plays out.

Colorado and Denver have a few ways to fix the problem. Denver could allow open carry. Colorado could honor more out-of-state permits. Or Colorado could start issuing nonresident permits. Based on every other state that has faced this fight, the third option is the most likely, because it lets the state keep control over who carries.

Bottom Line

Hoffman v. City and County of Denver is a strong case built on the same history and legal reasoning that has already beaten nonresident carry bans in California, New York, and Hawaii. I expect it to win.

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