DENVER (AP) — A federal judge ruled that Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper can’t be questioned under oath to speak about new gun restrictions for a pending lawsuit seeking to overturn the laws.

U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Michael Watanabe says Hickenlooper has not direct role in enforcing the laws and that his personal views about the laws have no bearing on the lawsuit’s outcome.

The new restrictions limit ammunition magazines to 15 rounds and require background checks for all gun sales and transfers. Hickenlooper signed both bills in March.

Most county sheriffs and other groups are suing to overturn the laws, which they argue violate the Second Amendment.

 

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) — There won’t be a decision on whether a Grand Junction man convicted of killing his wife will get a new trial until next year.

KKCO-TV reports that a judge on Tuesday scheduled a hearing on Michael Blagg’s retrial request for May 19.

Blagg received a life sentence after he was convicted in 2004 of first-degree murder after deliberation in the death of Jennifer Blagg.

In July, the state appeals court sent Blagg’s case back to Mesa County after his attorneys argued juror Marilyn Charlesworth lied when she indicated in a juror questionnaire that she wasn’t a victim of domestic violence.

She has said she didn’t consider herself a victim then.

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Gun owners in Washington who have been waiting years for a resolution to a lawsuit they filed in 2009 seeking the right to carry guns in public are asking a higher court to intervene in the case.

The Washington Times reports attorney Alan Gura filed a petition asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to step in and order the lower court to issue a ruling. The 43-page petition filed Oct. 21 says the delay in resolving the case, which was filed in 2009, is unreasonable.

Initial arguments in the case were heard in January 2010.

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