10th Circuit Gives CO 'Ghost Gun' Law a Death Sentence on Delay

The three-judge panel didn't strike down Colorado's serial-number mandate outright. It did something arguably more dangerous to gun-control advocates: it forced the district court to reexamine the whole thing *right now*, on the eve of a Supreme Court ruling that could yank the constitutional rug out from under Colorado entirely.

**That's not a reprieve. That's a ticking clock.**

Here's the chess move. Judge Gordon Gallagher noted that a parallel ATF rule—requiring serial numbers on gun parts for so-called crime-tracing purposes—would survive even if Colorado's state law collapsed. He used that overlap to argue against blocking the state law immediately. Translation: the panel is running out the clock, betting SCOTUS will clarify how much rulemaking power ATF actually has before anyone has to pull the trigger.

But the moment SCOTUS strips ATF's authority to regulate unfinished firearm components—and the legal arguments for doing exactly that are *serious*—Colorado's law loses its federal cover. It stands naked on its own constitutional merits.

**That is a fight 2A challengers are built to win.**

Also worth noting: Judge Allison Eid sat on this panel. Former colleague of Justice Neil Gorsuch. Committed originalist. This court is not quietly stacking the deck against gun owners.

Colorado's gun-control machine in Denver convinced itself this challenge was dead and buried. It wasn't. The 10th Circuit handed Second Amendment plaintiffs a second shot—and the Supreme Court may be seconds away from handing them the whole case.

Watch SCOTUS. Watch this remand. The dominoes are lined up, and the first one just moved.