Last year, Democrats voted party-line to repeal Colorado’s preemption law that prohibited local governments from passing gun control laws that exceed state law. At the time, Republicans sounded the alarm. One Democrat, Rep. Don Valdez of La Jara, even crossed the aisle to vote no.

A patchwork of gun laws — and the county-by-county, town-by-town legal battles to come — would prove unwise, untenable and unconstitutional, they argued.

Now, thanks to a recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court and a court order concerning Superior’s new gun ordinance, Coloradans’ constitutional right to self-defense is safer.

In a court order issued Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Raymond P. Moore temporarily stayed two key provisions in a gun control law recently approved by the town of Superior.

According to The Gazette, “Moore’s order blocks two specific provisions of Ordinance 0-9 from taking effect this month: a ban on ‘assault weapons’ and a prohibition on illegal weapons, which include certain knives, firearm magazines and striking weapons.” Moore permitted a provision generally banning open carry of firearms in public to stand.

The judge’s order stems from the Supreme Court’s decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which was released last month. The Bruen decision rejected a New York law mandating that an applicant for a concealed carry permit must demonstrate “a special need” for self-defense, concluding that this violated the constitutional right to carry a firearm outside one’s home.

In the ruling penned by Justice Clarence Thomas, the Supreme Court reemphasized the “historical approach” taken by the Court in its decisions in the cases of Heller and McDonald. As Oyez summarized, “the right to carry a firearm in public for self-defense is deeply rooted in history, and no other constitutional right requires a showing of ‘special need’ to exercise it.’”

It’s essential that the government demonstrates a gun restriction is “consistent with the Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation,” Thomas wrote. He rebuked how lower courts have wrongly used a two-step test that goes beyond what is allowed under the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment, as concluded in Heller.

“Basically, the Supreme Court determined that in every case that gun control laws were upheld, the courts decided them using the wrong test,” explained Max McGuire, author of The Conservative’s Guide to Winning Every Gun Control Argument. “There are a lot of cases from the past that were decided without the courts even placing any weight on the right to keep and bear arms.”

This is encouraging news for Coloradans. When the legislature repealed preemption and passed local regulation of firearms, Republicans warned of the risks posed by the inevitable gun control patchwork.

A law-abiding citizen whose county or city has one set of laws can cross one municipal or county line and suddenly find themselves in violation of the law there — all for exercising a natural, constitutionally guaranteed right.

Then-Senate Minority Leader Chris Holbert warned at the time that the bill “would allow local governments to put up invisible barriers.”

The idea that citizens in one jurisdiction could be punished for constitutionally protected behavior that is lawful in another is an affront to equal protection under the law.

If local governments persist in passing unconstitutional ordinances, we can likewise expect many more rulings like the one Moore issued on Monday.

That’s because the Bruen decision will almost certainly encourage more lawsuits challenging new gun control laws by municipalities and counties. This in turn should rightly discourage local governments from pushing the envelope and passing new ordinances which restrict the right to keep and bear arms. Unlike the state government, local governments may lack the resources necessary for the legal battles to come — especially when they are more likely to lose.

The very notion of letting Colorado’s many localities go above and beyond the state’s gun regulations was always superfluous, however.

As I’ve written previously, “Colorado already has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation. We mandate universal background checks, meaning every firearm sale or transfer, public or private, must go through a background check by both CBI and NICS. Colorado has a 15-round magazine limit and extreme risk protection orders (‘red-flag’ laws) and prohibits firearm possession for individuals with restraining orders or after mental adjudication. The so-called gun show and boyfriend loopholes have been closed.”

Of course, some of Colorado’s state laws may find themselves challenged in court — but it’s better that the state fights it out than Superior or Boulder.

“The Bruen ruling has sent a shockwave across the country, putting anti-gun politicians, policymakers, and judges on notice that their days of violating citizens’ most basic, unalienable rights are over,” McGuire said.

Let the Superior ruling signal to Boulder, Lafayette, Louisville and all of Colorado: it’s time we lead the way in revitalizing respect for our constitutional rights.

Jimmy Sengenberger is host of “The Jimmy Sengenberger Show” Saturdays from 6-9am on News/Talk 710 KNUS. He also hosts “Jimmy at the Crossroads,” a webshow and podcast in partnership with The Washington Examiner.