A federal judge on Friday declined to combine the four lawsuits currently pending before different judges that challenge the constitutionality of gun restrictions in Boulder County and three of its municipalities.

U.S. District Court Judge Raymond P. Moore, who was assigned the case involving the town of Superior, indicated he wished to see the lawsuits proceed separately. He acknowledged there will now be a possibility of conflicting rulings between various judges about whether the various local ordinances violate the Second Amendment.

But, Moore said, “if anyone thinks the district court is going to have the last say on this, they’re kidding themselves. Come on.”

The legal challenges in Boulder County are a product of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision from June in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, in which the court’s conservative majority made it more difficult for gun restrictions to pass constitutional muster. Around the same time, Boulder County and the municipalities of Superior, Louisville and Boulder enacted substantially similar firearm regulations, including a ban on large-capacity magazines and “assault weapons.”

The pro-gun group Rocky Mountain Gun Owners quickly filed suit in federal court, and successfully obtained a temporary restraining order from Moore that is currently blocking enforcement of Superior’s regulations.

The remaining lawsuits are assigned to U.S. District Court Judges Regina M. Rodriguez and Charlotte N. Sweeney. Two additional cases were given to U.S. District Court Chief Judge Philip A. Brimmer and U.S. District Court Judge Nina Y. Wang, which seek to overturn the state’s ban on large-capacity gun magazines that lawmakers enacted in the wake of the 2012 Aurora movie theater massacre.

The town of Superior, which is receiving pro bono assistance from out-of-state attorneys, moved in late August to consolidate the cases arising from Boulder County, arguing the issues involved were virtually identical. Rocky Mountain Gun Owners did not oppose the request.

But Moore, speaking to the parties in his courtroom on Friday, disclosed that he had talked with Rodriguez, Sweeney and Brimmer, the chief judge, about the request to consolidate the cases to one judge.

“I’m not going to get into the content of those discussions because those conversations between district judges, in my view, stay between district judges,” he added. “I’m not suggesting to you there has been some kind of joint meeting or plan or there’s some secret sauce you don’t see where Rodriguez and Sweeney and I have this all plotted out.”

Moore anticipated the other judges will also proceed separately with the remaining lawsuits, “although I can’t speak for them.” He acknowledged his decision would complicate the process for the parties, but welcomed coordination between the attorneys in the four cases.

The municipalities have justified their ordinances by pointing to the prevalence of assault weapons in mass shootings, including those perpetrated in Colorado. While the plaintiffs are primarily seeking to overturn those local gun safety regulations, Rocky Mountain Gun Owners filed an amended complaint on Thursday that added a request for monetary damages. 

Moore gave the parties four weeks to develop a schedule for proceeding in the Superior lawsuit, during which the temporary restraining order will remain in effect. Rodriguez, who is handling the case against the city of Boulder, indicated she would wait until Moore’s decision on the consolidation issue before setting a schedule in that lawsuit.

Sweeney is assigned the lawsuit against Boulder County, and she has already granted a temporary restraining order against prohibitions on the sale or transfer of large-capacity magazines and assault weapons. She has scheduled a hearing for Nov. 8, at which she will consider whether to issue a longer-term preliminary injunction while the case is litigated. Sweeney is also handling the case against Louisville.

In the challenge to Colorado’s statewide ban on large-capacity magazines, Wang has set a hearing for Nov. 17-18 to consider a preliminary injunction. Although the plaintiffs originally requested a temporary restraining order to block enforcement of the decade-old law, they withdrew their motion in early September.

The other lawsuit against the statewide ban, assigned to Brimmer, ended on Thursday after the self-represented plaintiff from Colorado Springs voluntarily agreed to dismiss his claims.

Similar litigation is advancing in other states, including Connecticut and Massachusetts, that also have prohibitions on large-capacity magazines.