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Boulder police made 'tactical decision' to let demonstrators break city gun law during protest
It's illegal in Boulder to openly carry a firearm unless it's held in a "carrying case" — a holster for a handgun, for example, or something larger and easily recognizable in the case of a larger weapon.
And, yet, on Saturday afternoon in downtown Boulder, some among the group that lined Broadway to rally in opposition to the City Council's proposed ban on assault weapons stood with AR-15-style rifles slung over their shoulders.
An unidentified man with a rifle slung across his back pushes a stroller along Broadway during Saturday's "Rally For Our Rights" in downtown Boulder. Police say they chose not to enforce the city's open-carry law — which requires such rifles to be in a case when carried publicly — "to avoid conflict" during the protest. (Cliff Grassmick / Staff Photographer)
This was an open violation of city law, and one that the Boulder Police Department allowed to take place.
On Monday, Boulder police and city communications staff declined to be interviewed about that decision, but they did issue a statement from City Attorney Tom Carr, who said the police did not intervene as open-carry laws were being broken because doing so might have escalated the situation.
"To avoid conflict during protests, the police sometimes make a tactical decision not to enforce a particular law, if enforcement would create more conflict. Their primary job is to protect public safety," Carr said in that statement.
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He noted that police took the same approach during a string of Black Lives Matter protests in 2014, during which protesters shut down city streets and U.S. 36.
"(T)he police allowed it, even though it was illegal. Eventually they cleared the street without incident," Carr said.
He suggested police managed the event on Saturday — called "Rally For Our Rights" — with an intention of keeping things as civil as possible.
The rally was organized in opposition to a proposed ban on assault weapons, bump stocks and magazines with 10-round capacities, and the council is scheduled to discuss it May 1, and likely approve it at some point in the weeks following.
Boulder police made 'tactical decision' to let demonstrators break city gun law during protest
It's illegal in Boulder to openly carry a firearm unless it's held in a "carrying case" — a holster for a handgun, for example, or something larger and easily recognizable in the case of a larger weapon.
And, yet, on Saturday afternoon in downtown Boulder, some among the group that lined Broadway to rally in opposition to the City Council's proposed ban on assault weapons stood with AR-15-style rifles slung over their shoulders.
An unidentified man with a rifle slung across his back pushes a stroller along Broadway during Saturday's "Rally For Our Rights" in downtown Boulder. Police say they chose not to enforce the city's open-carry law — which requires such rifles to be in a case when carried publicly — "to avoid conflict" during the protest. (Cliff Grassmick / Staff Photographer)
This was an open violation of city law, and one that the Boulder Police Department allowed to take place.
On Monday, Boulder police and city communications staff declined to be interviewed about that decision, but they did issue a statement from City Attorney Tom Carr, who said the police did not intervene as open-carry laws were being broken because doing so might have escalated the situation.
"To avoid conflict during protests, the police sometimes make a tactical decision not to enforce a particular law, if enforcement would create more conflict. Their primary job is to protect public safety," Carr said in that statement.
Advertisement
He noted that police took the same approach during a string of Black Lives Matter protests in 2014, during which protesters shut down city streets and U.S. 36.
"(T)he police allowed it, even though it was illegal. Eventually they cleared the street without incident," Carr said.
He suggested police managed the event on Saturday — called "Rally For Our Rights" — with an intention of keeping things as civil as possible.
The rally was organized in opposition to a proposed ban on assault weapons, bump stocks and magazines with 10-round capacities, and the council is scheduled to discuss it May 1, and likely approve it at some point in the weeks following.
Boulder police made 'tactical decision' to let demonstrators break city gun law during protest
