A plan to “Certify” gun owners in Boulder, CO turned out to be a whopping failure when only 342 of the estimated thousands of assault rifles were turned in by the December 31st, 2018 deadline.

According to Ordinance 8245,

“City of Boulder residents who, prior to June 15, 2018, were legally in possession of an assault weapon shall have until December 31, 2018 to obtain a certificate for the assault weapon from the Boulder Police Department.”

Interestingly, the ordinances only apply to firearms which were already legally owned.

The plan was to force all citizens to bring their firearms into the police department and receive 2 paper certificates showing their firearms had been certified as legally owned.

One certificate, to provide on request, and another to be kept in a “…secure place.”

This is because if both certificates are lost or destroyed, “…possession of the weapon is no longer legal.”

Additionally, a background check would be performed on the unlucky citizen who presented themselves for inspection. Required fees to be paid by the citizen with cash, check, or credit card.

Failure to comply could result in fines up to $1000 and 90 days in jail, for each violation.

Boulder county officials who passed the ordinances unanimously, insist this is about certification, not registry and say there will be no records kept about the firearms and who owns them.

Council member Aaron Brockett on Facebook said of Ordinance 8259 which also went in to affect:

“Last night the Boulder City Council said enough is enough and passed a ban on sale and possession of assault weapons, bump stocks, and high capacity magazines. I’m proud that we’ve taken a stand and become part of the growing movement towards common sense gun control in our country.”

Looking to lead the way in fashionable anti-gun laws, city officials aren’t getting the positive press they may have been hoping for. The ordinance was a huge flop, this is because a large majority of firearms owners in the city failed to participate.

Lesley Hollywood, executive director of the Colorado Second Amendment group Rally for Our Rights, said most gun owners getting their firearms certified are bringing in multiple guns.

“Most of them are doing five to 10 firearms per person.” Hollywood went on to say the 342 certified firearms are from a very small number of gun owners: “I’m pretty confident it’s somewhere between 20 and 50 people altogether,” she said.

According to The Washington Times, Hollywood’s group was provided by a local supportive business with t-shirts and yellow decals saying “We Will Not Comply” appearing around the city on vehicle bumpers.

Non-compliance seems to be the path most Boulder gun owners have chosen to take.

Jon Caldera, president of the Independence Institute, a free market think-tank in Denver, has also chosen non-compliance but decided to do so openly:

“The question was, do I do this publicly or do it privately, and I’ve chosen to do it publicly because somebody has to,” Mr. Caldara said. “There will be thousands of people in Boulder living in the shadows, worried about somebody turning them in.”

Caldera’s article, Caldara: On January 1, I became a criminal in my hometown of Boulder, says the reason for his non-compliance is because he is being wrongly targeted in a city which prides itself for its tolerance,

“I am asking for progressives who run city government to live up to their assertion of tolerance and just let me be.

Because I own a long gun with a pistol grip and a detachable magazine, I had to the end[sic] of December to self-identify to the police, present myself for investigation and my gun for inspection, pay fees in order to receive a police-issued permission slip, all to avoid jail time, monetary penalties, and the confiscation and destruction of my gun.”

Caldera acknowledges he has a lot to lose if Boulder officials decide to prosecute him.

The single father of a daughter and handicapped son said:

“I respect the police, greatly. The cops I know hate the idea of enforcing this intolerance. I ask them when they come to arrest me and confiscate my guns, they give me enough warning, so my kids aren’t around when they do it.”

What do you think of this failed plan to regulate weapons In Boulder? Leave us a comment below to let us know.