Colorado’s Gun Ban Era Is Here: Everything You Need To Know

Colorado’s ban on the purchase of many commonly owned semiautomatic firearms officially takes effect August 1, 2026.

For most Coloradans, however, the sales effectively ended three days prior.

Because Colorado already requires buyers to wait three full days before taking possession of a firearm, July 28 was the last day a buyer could begin a transaction and complete the waiting period before SB25-003 takes effect on August 1. And as you can imagine, there was some serious panic buying happening. Whether or not CBI will have the capacity to process all of those background checks and release the firearms before the clock strikes midnight is yet to be seen. As of the writing of this article (July 31 at 3pm) there are still 1,891 background checks in the queue. 

This new law means nearly every semiautomatic, gas-powered firearm that accepts a detachable magazine is now banned from purchase in Colorado unless the government gives you permission to buy one. Recoil-operated pistols are exempt, although recoil rifles are banned if the upper and lower can come apart. An arbitrary list of historic and hunting long guns are exempt. Bolt-action rifles are exempt. I’ll go into this in more detail down below.

We are no longer speculating about what may happen when the law begins. The old purchasing process has already ended, and the new system that is supposed to replace it is a complete mess.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) is running the whole show including the training database, sheriffs are deciding who may take the class and are at will to deny people outright, private companies are supposed to perform the first background check that the sheriff will need, private instructors are delivering the classes, and Department of Revenue (DOR) is telling dealers which firearms are banned and handling enforcement at the FFL level.

Calling it a bureaucratic maze would be an understatement.

Some sheriffs allowed residents to begin applying early, and a very limited number of Coloradans have already started the process. Many sheriffs will not begin accepting or reviewing applications until August 1. Others are not accepting applications at all. CPW openly acknowledges both on its own website.

DOR has released an enormous and confusing list of firearms it believes are covered. An earlier draft included guns that fell squarely within the law’s own exclusions. Those have been removed, but the final list is still 150 pages long.

Meanwhile, firearm dealers are the ones who face massive criminal penalties and the possible loss of their state permits if they get any part of it wrong.

The law prohibits the purchase, sale, transfer, manufacture, and distribution of firearms Colorado has labeled “specified semiautomatic firearms.” It then creates a limited exception for buyers who complete every part of the state’s new approval and training system.

The prohibition is the rule. Government permission is the exception.

The Process Begins With a Background Check That You Must Bring To Your Sherriff 

Before a Coloradan may even take the required course, the person must obtain a Firearms Safety Course Eligibility Card from a sheriff.

To apply for that card, the person must first locate a private company capable of conducting a name-based background check of national and Colorado public criminal-history and judicial databases. The company must also provide an attestation confirming that it performed the required search.

Where does someone obtain that exact background check?

The state has not created one standard background-check product or provided Coloradans with a clear statewide list of approved vendors. Applicants are expected to find a company, determine whether its search includes every database required by the law, pay for the report and then hope the sheriff agrees that it is sufficient.

I have found a couple options TruDiligence and MyTruSeal. I am sure there are others but these two specifically say they provide what is needed for SB25-003.

A Colorado CBI criminal-history report will not include the required national records. A national commercial report may not include Colorado judicial records. A generic online background check may not satisfy either requirement.

Even the company’s attestation presents questions. What must it say? Must it identify every database searched? How recent can the report be? What happens when one sheriff accepts a vendor and another does not?

This is the very first step in the process, and the state still has not made it easy for the average Coloradan to determine what they are supposed to purchase or where they are supposed to do it.

It is also not the firearm background check performed at the gun store.

After completing this private background check, receiving permission from a sheriff, taking the course and paying all the associated fees, the buyer must still undergo the normal CBI background check before purchasing the firearm.

So, basically, Colorado is requiring a background check to get permission to take a class so a person may later undergo another background check to buy a gun.

Then You Must Ask a Sheriff for Permission to Take the Class

Once the applicant obtains the required private background check, they must submit it, along with the vendor’s attestation, identification, CPW application and fees, to a sheriff.

The sheriff then decides whether to issue an eligibility card. That card does not authorize the purchase of a firearm. It only gives the applicant permission to take the required class.

The sheriff must deny the application if the person cannot legally possess a firearm or cannot be positively identified. The sheriff may also deny it based on a “reasonable belief” that documented previous behavior makes the applicant likely to present a danger to themselves or others.

So this is not simply a mandatory gun safety class. Coloradans must first obtain government permission to take the class.

A few sheriffs opened the process early, giving a very limited number of applicants a head start. Many others will not begin accepting or reviewing applications until August 1, while some sheriffs are not participating in the scheme at all.

Residents whose sheriff will not process applications may try another county, but not every sheriff accepts out-of-county applicants. Those that do may charge more, forcing people to call around, travel and pay additional fees just to begin the process, meaning access now depends heavily on where someone lives.

In short, it’s a county-by-county privilege system.

After the Sheriff, You Still Have to Find and Complete the Class

Once the eligibility card is issued, the applicant may enroll in the required class.

Those who have completed a CPW-certified hunter education course must take an additional four-hour basic firearms safety class. The hunter education course does not have to be recent.

Anyone without qualifying hunter education must complete a 12-hour class taught in person over at least two days. All applicants must pass the final exam with a score of 90 percent or higher.

It should be noted this is not “training”. There are no firearms involved. There is no range time. It is a classroom curriculum put together by the state. In fact, it could be argued, that by requiring this nonsense, there will be less actual training happening as now gun owners will need to spend that same time and resources on this. 

A concealed handgun permit does not count. Prior concealed-carry or firearm safety training does not count. Military experience does not count. Anyone who has told you otherwise is wrong.

I am aware of a few approved instructors and organizations that are already offering these courses. Currently those are: 2A Colorado and LionHeart Combatives. CPW does have a list of trainers available here.

Completing the course still does not immediately clear the buyer. The instructor must enter the record into CPW’s system, and the dealer must be able to find and verify it before proceeding.

If the record is entered incorrectly, the database does not update, or the dealer cannot access the system, the sale stops. Every part of this process has to work before the buyer can move forward.

Then the Dealer Has to Figure Out Which Guns Are Actually Banned

Even after a buyer makes it through the background check, sheriff approval, and classes, the dealer still has to figure out whether the gun is actually banned.

SB25-003 generally bans semiautomatic rifles and shotguns that accept detachable magazines, along with gas-operated semiautomatic handguns that accept detachable magazines. Most recoil-operated handguns are exempt, unless the firearm has separate upper and lower receivers.

Then lawmakers carved out a bizarre list of specific guns that remain legal. These are: Ag42 Ljungman, Benelli Argo E Pro, Benelli R1 Big-Game Rifle, Browning Bar Mk 3, Browning Bar Longtrac Rifle, Browning Bar Shorttrac Rifle, Fabrique Nationale Model 49, Fusil Automatique Modele 1917, Gewehr 43, Globco Mohawk, Hakim Rifle, Hk Sl6, Hksl7, M1 Carbine, M1941 Johnson Rifle, Marlin Camp Carbine, Mas49, Remington Model 4, Remington Model 8, Remington Model 740, Remington Model 742, Remington Model 750, Remington 7400, Ruger Deerfield Carbine, Ruger Mini-14 Ranch Rifle, Ruger Mini Thirty Rifle, Ruger Model 44, Springfield Armory M1a Standard Issue Rifle, Svt40, Valmet Hunter M88, Vz.52, Winchester Model 100, Winchester Model 1905, Winchester Model 1907, Winchester Model 1910.

The legislature put the Department of Revenue’s Firearms Dealer Division in charge of making sure dealers know what is banned. DOR responded with a 150-page list that was supposed to clear things up.

It did not.

The list includes rimfire firearms, even though many people were led to believe .22-caliber guns were exempt. The actual exemption is much narrower, and some rimfires are still banned if they have separate upper and lower receivers.

Earlier drafts also included bolt-action firearms and model families, despite the law specifically excluding guns operated by bolt, pump, lever or slide action. DOR eventually removed those entries, but the fact that they appeared at all should tell you how much confidence anyone should have in this list.

And the final list is still not complete.

A gun does not have to appear on it for DOR to consider it banned. At the same time, a listed model may have different versions, calibers or configurations that are not covered by the law.

So dealers are left trying to figure out whether DOR meant an entire model family, one specific configuration, a receiver, a parts kit or something that never should have been on the list in the first place.

This was supposed to provide clarity. Instead, DOR handed dealers 150 pages of uncertainty and told them they could face severe penalties if they get it wrong.

Lower Receivers Are Another Unanswered Mess

Then there is the question of stripped lower receivers.

A stripped AR-style lower is legally treated as a firearm, but it is not a functioning semiautomatic rifle. It has no barrel, no gas system and cannot fire.

DOR’s list still includes lower receivers, even though a lower could eventually be built into a firearm that is covered by the law or one that falls within an exemption.

That distinction may matter less than it once did, however, because SB25-003 also makes manufacturing these firearms illegal. There is no permit-to-manufacture process for ordinary Coloradans. So technically, people are not supposed to be buying lowers and assembling their own covered firearms anyway.

But that still does not explain how dealers are supposed to treat a standalone lower at the point of sale.

CPW’s public guidance focuses on completed rifles, shotguns and handguns. DOR’s guidance reaches receivers and components.

So is the lower banned because of what it is, what it could become, or what DOR assumes the buyer might build?

Once again, the agencies have not provided a clear answer, but the dealer is the one expected to take the risk. The likely result is that many dealers will simply stop transferring lowers altogether.

And After All of That, the Normal Purchase Process Still Begins

If the applicant finds the right private background check, receives sheriff approval, pays the fees, completes the course, passes the exam and appears correctly in CPW’s system, they may finally return to the dealer.

Only then does the normal purchase process begin.

The dealer must verify the CPW record, run the standard CBI background check and then wait three more days before releasing the firearm.

SB25-003 did not replace Colorado’s existing process. It piled a costly new permission system on top of it.

This Is a Ban, No Matter What Politicians Call It

Supporters of SB25-003 keep calling it a training requirement. That is not how the law works. And again, there is no “training” involved. 

The law bans the sale and purchase of these firearms first. It then allows some Coloradans to seek government permission to buy them after completing the requirements.

If your sheriff believes you shouldn’t have one, the gun is banned for you. If your sheriff will not process applications, the gun is banned for you. If another county will not accept you, the gun is banned for you. If you cannot afford the fees, find an available class or get your information entered correctly into CPW’s system, the gun is banned for you. And if a dealer cannot make sense of DOR’s sprawling and constantly changing interpretation, the sale will likely stop there too.

This is not a training requirement. It is a gun ban, with a costly maze of government hoops for anyone still trying to buy one.

For Most Buyers, the Ban Has Already Begun

Colorado had more than a year to prepare for this law, and on the eve of implementation, the path to compliance is still riddled with confusion.

But that is almost beside the point. A constitutional right should never depend on which sheriff will take your application, whether you can afford the fees, whether a class is available or whether a state database happens to work.

SB25-003 does exactly that. It turns the right to purchase a commonly owned firearm into a privilege controlled by government.

That is a direct attack on the constitutional rights of every Coloradan.