Governor Jared Polis signed SB25-003 into law, introducing stricter licensing requirements for specific types of semiautomatic firearms across Colorado. The new legislation focuses on semiautomatic rifles and shotguns with detachable magazines, as well as gas-operated semiautomatic handguns with detachable magazines. According to Colorado Senate Democrats, the law also completely bans the purchase or sale of “rapid fire conversion devices, like bump stocks and binary triggers.”
The restrictions do not apply to all firearms. Senate Democrats noted that the law will not affect the sale of shotguns, semiautomatic firearms with fixed magazines, and the vast majority of handguns.
Under the new regulations, individuals looking to buy a regulated semiautomatic firearm must complete a firearms safety course every five years. This course covers safe storage, handling, and other safety protocols. Applicants must pass a subsequent exam with a score of at least 90% to qualify. Local sheriff’s offices are responsible for vetting applicants to ensure they have no disqualifying criminal convictions. Sheriffs also hold the authority to deny an applicant if there is a reasonable belief that the individual poses a danger to themselves or others.
Before taking the safety course, applicants must obtain a course eligibility card from their local sheriff’s office. State Democrats anticipate that roughly 50,000 people will apply for these cards annually, generating an estimated $2 million in revenue. For the 2025-26 fiscal year, a recent fiscal analysis shows that $1,443,010 will be transferred to the Firearm Safety and Training Course Cash Fund to launch the program. The majority of these initial funds are being drawn from the Parks and Outdoor Recreation Cash Fund. Legislative documents indicate that revenue from the classes and eligibility cards will be used to pay back the borrowed $1.4 million starting in the 2026-27 fiscal year, with full repayment expected by the 2029-30 fiscal year.
The law was passed after undergoing significant changes during the legislative session. Initially drafted as an outright ban, the bill was scaled back in later iterations, which included dropping a previously proposed fingerprinting requirement.
Supporters frame the legislation as a necessary step to address gun violence. “High-capacity magazines are what put the ‘mass’ into mass shootings, which is why over a decade ago Colorado Democrats passed legislation to prohibit magazines that hold over 15 rounds of ammunition,” Senator Tom Sullivan stated in a prior press release. “The people of Colorado have mandated that we do something about the public health crisis that is gun violence, so that’s what we’re going to do.”
Meanwhile, the law has drawn criticism from various groups, including several law enforcement officials. Local sheriff’s offices have raised concerns over a lack of designated resources to handle the administrative workload of the new licensing process. While sheriff’s offices will collect fees for the eligibility cards, the law requires them to transfer that revenue directly to Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW).
Gun rights advocates and critics argue the law unfairly penalizes legal gun owners, pointing out that criminals often obtain firearms through illegal channels. “There are no other rights that are constitutionally protected in our Bill of Rights in which we have to ask the government for permission to practice,” said Leland Conway, the Rocky Mountain District Manager for Delta Defense, in a previous interview with KRDO13. “We don’t have to get permission, or take a class, to go and speak our mind [through] freedom of speech, or freedom of religion, or freedom of the press. We just get to do that because we’re Americans, and that’s guaranteed.”
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