Polis Signs Controversial Gun Control Bill—A Blow to Law-Abiding Citizens
On April 10, 2025, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed Senate Bill 25-003 into law, introducing significant new regulations on the purchase of certain semi-automatic firearms within the state.
Key Provisions of the Law
Effective August 1, 2026, individuals seeking to purchase specified semi-automatic firearms with detachable magazines must:
- Obtain a permit (firearms safety course eligibility card) through their local sheriff’s office. (Basically Firearm Owner Registration)
- Complete a state-approved firearms safety course certified by Colorado Parks and Wildlife. (This is going to be… interesting)
- Undergo two background checks.
The law also prohibits the sale and possession of rapid-fire conversion devices, such as bump stocks and binary triggers, which can increase the firing rate of semi-automatic weapons.
What Guns Are Banned Require the Illegal Registration Permit?
Well, listing everything would make this article overly long and confusing. The short answer is, all traditional carbines like AR or AK pattern rifles (or AR pattern pistols) are included in the ban new regulation.
It also requires a permit for gas-operated semiautomatic handguns with a detachable magazine. This is where it gets complicated. The law specifically excludes “recoil-operated handguns” but what counts as a recoil-operated vs gas-operated.
When the bill was being debated the law makers in favor of the bill claimed it would not include common and popular semi-automatic handguns and on the surface that is perhaps true. After all most of the standard handguns we are accustomed to today (e.g., Glock, 1911) are operated by recoil but what do you think causes the recoil? Gas.
So while most of us including me would like to believe that those law makers didn’t mean to wrap up common handguns into this regulation the text of the law leaves open the option to include those handguns for sure. Before the law goes into effect we would expect some clarity from the Attorney General / Governor’s office to clarify what will be included.
The law also lists a long number of very specific makes and models of firearms as being excluded from this law. Make no mistake, the intent is to ban (or at least make very difficult and expensive to obtain) AR-15 style rifles… and maybe all handguns too.
Governor’s Statement
Governor Polis stated that the law is not a ban on firearms but a measure to ensure that gun owners are properly trained and educated. He expressed confidence that the law would contribute to making Colorado one of the safest states in the country by promoting responsible gun ownership.
That may very well be what he actually believes… who am I to say otherwise but what his statement doesn’t say out loud is that this law is a back door way of creating a government controlled list of gun owners (at least those who care about owning one of these otherwise banned guns) and making it far more expensive and difficult to own the most common sporting rifles in America.
Legal Challenges on the Horizon
With the passage of Senate Bill 25-003, legal action is almost certain. Pro-Second Amendment organizations such as Rocky Mountain Gun Owners (RMGO) and the National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR) have already voiced strong opposition to the measure, calling it a clear infringement on constitutionally protected rights.
I predict that lawsuits challenging the law’s constitutionality could be filed within weeks, potentially seeking injunctions to delay or block the law’s implementation ahead of its August 2026 effective date.
Grandfather Clause?
This law only prohibits “knowingly manufacturing, distributing, transferring, selling, or purchasing” any of the naughty guns without the permit. There is nothing in there about possession or ownership. So much like the current law about “high-capacity” magazines, this law is going to be difficult to impossible to enforce and isn’t likely to see wide compliance in my opinion.
Thanks for the article. The one correction I would offer is that ALL semi-automatic weapons operate on the principle of gas expansion. Indeed the recoil which causes the “recoil-operated” handguns to function comes from the expansion of gases ignited within the cartridge. It can be said, therefore, that even “recoil-operated” weapons are gas-operated.
So that provision of the bill in highly controversial. Your stated viewpoint is the one sold to us by the bill’s sponsors, but there is absolutely no guarantee that courts will interpret the bill accordingly.
My personal opinion is that this part of the bill was left intentionally vague because if all semi-automatic handgun owners knew this bill might threaten their benificial use of those handguns, there would have been much more opposition to the bill. What do I mean by “beneficial use”? Well, if you can’t legally sell it, you don’t really own it, do you?
David, I appreciate your perspective and clarification. It’s a valid concern.
“Vagueness” is one of the most common and successful challenges to a law’s Constitutionality.
This is extremely disappointing news, especially when stacked upon the 6.5% “sin tax” on ALL firearm purchases, passed by the CO legislature last year. Imagine being charged a fee every time you exercise free speech, or being forced to pay for a training class to lawfully assemble. There’s no difference here.
I’m trying to remain optimistic, because I know I’m not alone. More people need to stand up, otherwise the legislature will trample over anything we have left. Please consider joining and/or donating to the groups mentioned in the article above. I support both. The fight is far from over.
Being a “near” life long resident of Colorado, I find the HR5-003 bill (now law) to be the next level of the hornet’s hive and extremely disheartening. So much so that if it weren’t for a few factors (age, disability, cancer, etc), I would pack up myself and my wife and head to northern Montana or Texas (friends & family in both).
As for your comment @Ryan, I while heatedly agree with membership in both organizations! I have been a member of RMGO since it’s inception, and am also a “Frontline Defender” in NAGR, and have been for years. I absolutely support the mission of both. I really appreciate these two organizations since the NRA has been a big disappointment in fighting this “Colorado problem”. I have even debated dropping my NRA membership since their huge failure in the bump-stock issue. I just hesitate bailing from any group that supports (however weakly) 2nd amendment rights.
Also, I have written every letter and signed every RMGO and NAGR petition available, and have written multiple letters to anyone that could have any involvement in HR25-003. Most haven’t bothered to answer my letters. Governor Polis (joke 😝) sends me “nice” letters each time thanking me for my letters and voicing my “concerns”, but also “nicely” tell me to smooch his a__. What else should I expect from a totally liberal atheist dictator who crams his LGBTQ status and beliefs in the face of his constituents?!
🤠🦅
🤠🦅
Unconstitutional. The Constitutional case law is clear. Yo do not need a permit or license to exercise a clear, articulated Constitutional Right. Most Federal rights were extended to the states via the Privileges and Immunities clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, but the Second Amendment is even stronger, it is, in its original text, declared to be “the right of the people.”
“Vagueness” is one of the most common and successful challenges to a law’s Constitutionality.