03/26/2025
Yesterday (Monday) Colorado SB25-003 passed third and final vote in the State House chamber. It has already passed the State Senate although because it has House amendments it will need to return to the Senate for concurrence of those amendments (meaning a majority in the Senate will need to vote the amendments into the bill). From Senate concurrence, it will move to Governor Polis' desk for either veto or signature (or if he chooses to do neither, it will automatically become law). Continue to contact Governor Polis and ask he veto this bill!
Make no mistake: Republican legislators, activists, and citizens put up a very valiant fight, but in the end the numbers to kill it simply were not there. The bill passed the House 36-29, with all 22 Republicans and 7 Democrats voting NO. Ultimately it needed 4 more Democrats to join Republicans for it to die. IMO, that was never going to happen. Through my conversations with many Democrat legislators and my own personal vote count, I thought it could possibly get as close as passing by 1 vote if we were really lucky, but the last "kill" vote wasn't there no matter how much we tried. No Democrat is willing to take that hit. The bill passed after going through 4 committees - 3 which included hours and hours of testimony from the public, the majority of the testimony being in opposition. The bill was amended 35 times. It had 6 different fiscal notes. Here's what it looks like now:
• The enactment date is August 1, 2026 so none of this will apply until then. The original enactment date was Sept 1, 2025 but this was changed via an amendment.
• At its core, it is a blanket fi***rm ban, prohibiting the sale, purchase, transfer, and manufacture of semi-automatic ri**es, sh****ns and gas-operated pistols that can accept a detachable magazine. The language around pistols is very nuanced as it tries to exempt those that also use recoil operations, but ultimately the Colorado Attorney General would have the power to further "clarify" what is banned.
• Possession remains legal.
• Fi****ms with fixed magazines holding 15 rounds or less are exempt, as are fi***rms that have a detachable magazine permanently affixed (like with epoxy or weld according to the bill sponsors - BIG YIKES). There is no clear definition of "permanently affixed" and again the attorney general would be in charge of further clarifying that.
• For individuals who want to continue to purchase these banned fi***rms, a license to buy scheme was added. This requires a potential consumer to obtain a new "Fi****ms Safety Course Eligibility Card" which will be added to a new "Fi****ms Training & Safety Course Record System", and then take training and pass a test. This system will be funded and managed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW). Here is the breakdown of how that scheme would work:
- Individual completes application to be developed by CPW.
- Individual pulls their own name-based background check from approved provider and gives it to their county sheriff.
- Their county sheriff reviews background check, the applicant's photo ID, and the CPW application, then decides if individual should be able to buy one of the banned guns.
- If the sheriff approves, the individual is provided with a "Fi****ms Safety Course Eligibility Card" and entered into the CPW-managed system; if the sheriff denies, the fi***rm prohibition remains in place for that individual.
- Once the individual has the eligibility card, they can then take the required training. The training will either be a 4-hour Hunter Safety Course plus a 4-hour Basic Gun Safety class, both completed within the 5 years prior; or a 12-hour Extended Fi****ms Safety Course that must be split into two days. None of the class can be completed online.
- At the completion of the training, the individual is required to pass a yet-to-be developed test with a score of 90% or higher.
- Once ALL of this is completed and paid for, CPW will add the individual into their "approved buyer" registry which gun stores and FFLs will be able to access when the individual attempts to purchase a banned gun.
- Other notes: 1.) CCW permits do not count toward any of this (NRA was saying they do but that is inaccurate. Every amendment that was run to add CCW permits holders to this was killed by Democrats). 2.) When purchasing the fi***rm, the individual will still need to complete a background check and comply with all state regulations, including the 3-day waiting period.
• The bill also bans bump stocks and forced reset triggers.
• There was an arbitrary list of long guns that were exempted; I include that list in the article.
• The funding for this license to buy program will come out of CPW’s Outdoor Parks and Recreation Fund which gets a lot of its funding when you add the $29 state park pass to your car registration. It also gets funding from hunting and fishing licenses, state park camping fees, and more. Any money you give to CPW from here forward will be funding your own disarmament.
Read more here: https://wethesecondcolorado.com/colorados-gun-ban-era-begins-unpacking-the-controversial-sb25-003/
