This is a strange enough gap in the law that it took a lawsuit to lay it out clearly, so here's the mechanics of it — and the case now challenging it.
The gap, as the lawsuit describes it
Colorado generally issues concealed-handgun permits to residents and recognizes an out-of-state permit only when Colorado has reciprocity with the issuing state and the holder resides in that state. Denver separately prohibits open carry, subject to exceptions. The complaint argues that these rules combine to prevent certain nonresidents whose permits Colorado does not recognize from carrying a handgun on their person for self-defense in Denver. That is narrower than saying no lawful possession or transport is possible at all: Denver's ordinance includes exceptions for a person's own dwelling or place of business and for qualifying transport in a private vehicle.
The lawsuit
Howeth v. City and County of Denver was filed on August 12, 2026 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado by the National Rifle Association and the Colorado State Shooting Association, on behalf of two individual plaintiffs. Greg Howeth lives in Hawaii, holds valid carry permits from both Hawaii and Utah, and owns a second home in Weld County, Colorado, that he flies to regularly. Zackary Dougherty lives in South Carolina, previously lived in Loveland, and still works for a Loveland-based employer, which means regular work travel through Denver. Neither man's permit is recognized in Colorado, and neither can lawfully carry — concealed or openly — anywhere in Denver, despite being trained, permitted in their home states, and otherwise legally qualified everywhere else they carry.
The 52-page complaint names the City and County of Denver, Denver's police chief, its public safety director, its city attorney, and the local sheriff as defendants, along with Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and Stan Hilkey, executive director of the Colorado Department of Public Safety. The core argument: "the combined effect of Denver and Colorado law" — not either law standing alone — is what strips these visitors of a right the Second and Fourteenth Amendments are supposed to guarantee wherever they travel in the country.
Why "combined effect" is the interesting legal question here
Neither piece of this, by itself, is unusual or obviously unconstitutional on its own terms. Plenty of states run resident-only permit systems with limited reciprocity — Colorado isn't an outlier there. Plenty of local governments, under Colorado's post-2021 preemption repeal (the same legal shift behind Denver's other carry restrictions we've touched on elsewhere), have banned open carry within city limits. The lawsuit's theory isn't that either rule is individually unconstitutional — it's that stacking a resident-only concealed permit system on top of a total local open-carry ban produces a result neither law was necessarily designed to produce on its own: a complete, unavoidable prohibition on lawful carry for an entire category of otherwise qualified people, solely because of where they live.
The interaction between state and city rules is central to the new complaint. It also enters a landscape that already includes the Tenth Circuit's 2013 decision in Peterson v. Martinez, which rejected an earlier nonresident challenge involving Colorado's permit system and Denver's carry restrictions under the legal framework then in use. Howeth asks the court to revisit related issues after Bruen and after changes to Denver and Colorado law. How the court treats Peterson will be an important part of the case.
What this doesn't affect
Nothing here touches concealed or open carry for Colorado residents, and it has nothing to do with SB25-003, the eligibility-card process, or purchasing restrictions of any kind. This is specifically about visitors — people who don't live in Colorado, are permitted to carry in their home states, and currently have no lawful mechanism to carry a handgun anywhere within Denver's city limits, concealed or open.
Bottom line
If you're a Colorado resident, this case doesn't change anything about your own carry rights. If you're visiting from out of state with a carry permit Colorado doesn't recognize, the complaint argues that Denver may leave you without a lawful way to carry a handgun on your person for self-defense, openly or concealed. Vehicle transport, private property, and other exceptions require their own analysis. That is the gap this lawsuit was filed to challenge. No ruling has been issued as of this writing; we'll follow it as it moves.
As always, we are not lawyers—just Colorado citizens trying to understand the rules, statutes, and court decisions and share what we learn. The information on this website is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice, nor does it create an attorney/client relationship. The accuracy, completeness, or currency of the content is not warranted. Your use of content on this website is at your own risk. Consult an attorney about your specific circumstances.
