A federal judge has declined to block Colorado’s 2013 law prohibiting the possession of large-capacity gun magazines, finding a Colorado Springs man’s decision to incorrectly sue the attorney general likely will doom his lawsuit.

Delbert Sgaggio filed suit in July against Attorney General Phil Weiser, claiming the state’s general ban on the sale, transfer or possession of magazines holding more than 15 rounds of ammunition violates his Second Amendment rights. Sgaggio based his legal assertions on the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen, which made it more difficult for governments to enact gun safety regulations.

He also alleged the large-capacity magazine ban burdened his religious exercise, due to his “sincerely held spiritual belief” in the right to self-defense.

But U.S. District Court Chief Judge Philip A. Brimmer refused to grant Sgaggio a preliminary injunction that would block enforcement of the law. Among other factors, Sgaggio had to show he would likely prevail on the merits of his lawsuit. Because Sgaggio chose to sue Weiser, who is not in charge of enforcing the law, Brimmer decided the likelihood of success was minimal.

“According to the Attorney General, primary enforcement of the Colorado Criminal Code, where the LCM Ban is codified, ‘lies with the state’s District Attorneys,’ not the Attorney General,” Brimmer wrote in an Aug. 26 order.

State lawmakers enacted the prohibition on large-capacity magazines as part of several gun safety measures in the wake of the 2012 massacre at an Aurora movie theater. Multiple entities and individuals challenged the law in federal court shortly afterward, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit decided they lacked the legal standing to do so.

With the Supreme Court’s June decision in Bruen, however, the conservative justices mandated that gun safety measures must be consistent with a “historical tradition of firearm regulation” in order to pass constitutional muster.

Sgaggio, who was reportedly cited in Colorado Springs in mid-August for possessing a large-capacity magazine, argued in his motion for a preliminary injunction that weapons capable of firing a high volume of bullets have been present throughout the United States’ history.

“Simply put our country was built on guns and violence,” he wrote, demanding that Weiser “give directions to all Law enforcement” to halt enforcement of the ban.

Weiser’s office responded that although the General Assembly has given the attorney general the power to prosecute certain offenses, the prohibition on large-capacity magazines was not one of those. Therefore, local district attorneys were actually the ones with enforcement power.

The government also previewed its argument about the law’s constitutionality under the Bruen decision, pointing to a historical tradition of states enacting gun laws when certain weapons are widely-circulated enough to pose a danger.

“As the threat to public safety shifted, so too did the regulations. In the 1920s, in response to the proliferation of the Tommy gun, twenty-eight separate states enacted anti-machine gun laws,” wrote Assistant Attorney General Peter G. Baumann. “Some of these laws even encompassed semi-automatic weapons with large capacity magazines.”

Although Brimmer turned down Sgaggio’s request to block the law, the Bruen ruling prompted another lawsuit in federal court seeking to strike down the large-capacity magazine ban. The National Foundation for Gun Rights, Inc. has similarly moved for a preliminary injunction against Gov. Jared Polis, who is named as the defendant.

U.S. District Court Judge Nina Y. Wang has scheduled a hearing in November to consider arguments from the parties. A third gun-related lawsuit, challenging the town of Superior’s restrictions on “assault weapons,” is pending, as well.