Last Week in Boulder, the NRA Struck Down an Assault Weapons Ban. This Week in Boulder, a Massacre.

Last week, the National Rifle Association successfully struck down an assault weapons ban in Boulder, Colorado. Five days later, Boulder was the scene of a mass shooting — reportedly with the same kind of weapon the city tried and failed to ban.

US-CRIME-SHOOTING

Police vehicles line the outside of the King Soopers grocery store in Boulder, Colorado on March 22, 2021 after reports of an active shooter. (Jason Connolly / AFP via Getty Images)


Last week, the National Rifle Association (NRA) publicly celebrated its success in striking down an assault weapons ban in Boulder, Colorado. Five days later, Boulder was the scene of a mass shooting, reportedly with the same kind of weapon that the city tried to ban.

On Monday, the nation’s attention was focused on the Rocky Mountain college town after a gunman reportedly killed at least ten people, including a police officer, at a local supermarket. CNN reported that one law enforcement official said the weapon used was an AR-15-style rifle.

That kind of weapon was at the center of a landmark legal battle between the gun lobby and the city of Boulder after municipal officials in 2018 “passed two ordinances banning the possession of assault weapons and large-capacity magazines in the wake of the mass shooting” at a school in Parkland, Florida, according to the Denver Post. Colorado has been the site of some of the most high-profile mass shootings in American history, including shootings at Columbine High SchoolPlanned Parenthood of Colorado Springs, the Aurora Theater, and the STEM school in Highlands Ranch.

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