Posted on 04/10/2025 3:39:05 PM PDT by Ben Dover
Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday signed into law one of the most restrictive gun regulations ever adopted in Colorado.
Senate Bill 3 bans the manufacture and drastically restricts the sale of certain semiautomatic firearms in Colorado. It’s aimed at reducing the carnage that can be inflicted during a mass shooting.
“I really think this will make Colorado safer,” Polis said before signing the bill in his office at the Colorado Capitol.
Here’s how the measure will work.
What it would do Starting in August 2026, the manufacture, sale and purchase of certain semiautomatic firearms that can accept detachable ammunition magazines will be outlawed in Colorado.
That will include AR-15 and AK-47 rifles, as well as a long list of their popular variants. Senate Bill 3 will also affect tactical shotguns and a small number of handguns.
The banned weapons would only be available for purchase to anyone who is otherwise allowed to purchase a gun if they have a magazine with a maximum capacity of 15 rounds that is welded, epoxied or soldered on. Right now, those kinds of weapons are rarely made.
The bill also immediately bans so-called rapid-fire trigger devices, like bump stocks, which can make a semiautomatic weapon fire at a rate similar to that of an automatic gun.
Semiautomatic guns fire each time their trigger is pulled, while automatic weapons fire continuously when their trigger is pulled until they are out of ammunition.
How to get around the prohibition While the possession, sale and purchase of rapid-fire trigger devices are now prohibited no matter what, people will have the ability to purchase firearms banned under Senate Bill 3 if they get a “firearms safety course eligibility card.”
To get a card, a person would have to first be vetted by their county sheriff, which would include a background check.
Sheriffs will have broad authority to deny applications from people seeking to buy otherwise banned firearms, including those they believe may be a risk to themselves or others. Those who are rejected, however, could file a lawsuit seeking to reverse the decision.
Once someone gets an eligibility card, they must complete up to a dozen hours of training, depending on whether they have already completed a hunter education course, and pass a test. At that point they would be allowed to purchase a weapon otherwise banned under Senate Bill 3.
The vetting and training is valid for five years and then must be renewed if the person wishes to purchase additional weapons.
Some people may be thinking that they can just travel to another state to purchase a weapon outlawed under Senate Bill 3, but they would technically be breaking federal law.
Federal law requires gun sellers to comply with the laws of the state where the customer lives. So a Wyoming gun dealer must comply with Colorado law when selling a firearm to a Coloradan.
What if I already own a weapon that will be banned under Senate Bill 3? Senate Bill 3 doesn’t affect possession of any firearms. That means if you have a weapon that would be banned under Senate Bill 3, you can keep it once the measure goes into effect.
What are the penalties for violating Senate Bill 3? Violating Senate Bill 3 would be a relatively low-level offense.
It would be a Class 2 misdemeanor punishable by up to 120 days in jail and a fine — or both. Subsequent offenses, however, would be a Class 6 felony punishable by up to 18 months in prison.
Possession of a rapid-fire trigger device is now a Class 5 felony, punishable by up to three years in prison. Subsequent offenses are a Class 4 felony.
What could stop Senate Bill 3 from taking effect? Gun rights groups have vowed to file a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Senate Bill 3. That could prevent the measure from taking effect. It could also take years to be decided in the courts.
Correct. The reciprocal of legal is illegal. I have had many people from firearms-phobic states come into the shop to drool. But they CAN buy standard capacity magazines and other accessories not available in their home states.
Colorado has become the Maryland of the Intermountain West AND the Great Plains.
Best reason to stay out of Colorado as the men there must stand up and say no we will not obey your laws...Matter of fact you might want to have the State Police babysit you as we are coming for you some night....
Just one company in Decatur, Alabama makes parts for NATO M16’s and Colt AR-15’s to the tune of 20,000 every month.
The People of Colorado could easily fix this situation if they wanted to...
“Colorado governor signs bill banning manufacture,”
So that, in effect, if there are no gun mfrs. in CO then this bill has no real teeth except banning the sale?
“It is legal to sell a firearm to any person who can purchase that firearm in their home state.”
As long as the laws of that home state are not violated. If there is another requirement in the home state, like this permission to buy...they may not complete the sale without that.
You do need to ensure that the purchase and sale of the rifle comply with the laws of both your state and the state where you are making the purchase.
You cannot buy in an adjoining state as an end-run.
Are there any gun manufacturers in Colorado?
Virtue signalling, and if there are any gun factories that manufacture semi-autos within Colorado, also more unemployment and factory closures, in anticipation of 2026.
Curse you, John Denver. You infested Colorado with hippy-ism.
Criminals don’t obey laws.
Correct. Also, handguns can be sold to in-state residents only. However, you can sell a handgun to an out-of-state resident, but it must be shipped to an FFL dealer in their home state.
[“…what is the point of this bill? “
To erode the 2nd Amendment as much as they can get away with.]
Absolutely....it’s not about AR-15’s, it’s just to poke the camel’s nose under the 2nd Amendment tent.
In a sane country, this would be overturned by the USSC. Much like OR and WA making a person get a permit to purchase a gun or ammo. Of course from the State that doesn’t want you to purchase it. It is like applying for a CWP from the Governors office. If Sheriffs were not in charge of this in WA, you would never receive one.
This is not going to sit well with a lot of Coloradans......I know it won’t fly out around Fort Collins and West of there.
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