The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) has filed a lawsuit in Denver County District Court challenging Colorado’s recently enacted Proposition KK, which imposes a 6.5% excise tax on the retail sale of firearms, ammunition, and firearm parts. The plaintiffs argue the measure is an unconstitutional infringement on Second Amendment rights.
Filed on Monday, Langston v. Humphreys brings together several prominent gun rights groups, including the National Rifle Association, Firearms Policy Coalition, Colorado State Shooting Association, Magnum Shooting Center of Colorado Springs, and private citizen Zachary Langston. The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys from Cooper & Kirk PLLC and Michael Francisco of MRD Law.
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The lawsuit names Heidi Humphreys, Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Revenue, and Michael J. Allen, District Attorney of El Paso County, as defendants in their official capacities.
The plaintiffs assert that Colorado’s excise tax effectively penalizes residents for exercising their Second Amendment rights, arguing it is akin to placing a special tax on voting, free speech, or religious practice.
“Colorado’s new law impermissibly taxes an enumerated constitutional right,” said SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut. “Not only does the tax lack any basis in our nation’s history and tradition of firearms regulation, it violates Supreme Court precedent that states the exercise of constitutional rights cannot be targeted through taxation.”
According to the lawsuit, the tax discriminates against a protected class of goods and their consumers — namely, gun owners — and should be struck down as unconstitutional.
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Colorado voters passed Proposition KK in 2024, making it one of the first states to implement a dedicated excise tax on firearms and ammunition. Supporters say the revenue will fund gun violence prevention programs, victim support services, and public safety initiatives.
However, gun rights advocates argue it is a targeted attempt to discourage legal gun ownership.
The lawsuit arrives just days after federal legislation was introduced in Congress aimed at banning such taxes nationwide. Known as the Freedom from Unfair Gun Taxes Act, the measure seeks to bar any tax that specifically applies to the purchase of firearms or ammunition.
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“Greedy, anti-gun lawmakers in Colorado are probably at least partly responsible for such a bill on Capitol Hill,” said SAF founder Alan M. Gottlieb. “You simply cannot tax the exercise of a constitutionally-protected fundamental right.”
The lawsuit could become a major legal test of how far states can go in regulating — and taxing — gun ownership. Legal experts expect the case to eventually reach higher courts, given its implications for both gun policy and constitutional law.
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