Colorado’s latest legislative curveball, Senate Bill 25-003, is barreling toward the finish line, and it’s a doozy for anyone who values their Second Amendment rights. As of March 25, 2025, this rerevised bill—packed with amendments from the Second House—has morphed from a full-on ban into a sly, bureaucratic chokehold on MOST COMMON semiautomatic firearms. Don’t be fooled by the softened edges; this is still a direct hit on law-abiding gun owners, and it’s time to fight back before it’s too late.

BEWARE, here’s what SB25-003 is cooking up, straight from the bill:

Definition of “Specified Semiautomatic Firearm”:

INCLUSIONS: semiautomatic rifles or shotguns with detachable magazines, and gas-operated semiautomatic handguns with detachable magazines.

EXCEPTIONS: .22 or lower caliber rimfire firearms (unless with separate upper/lower receivers), manually operated firearms, fixed-magazine firearms (15 rounds or less), certain recoil-operated handguns, specific listed models (e.g., Ruger Mini-14 Ranch Rifle), inoperable firearms, and antiques/curios.

PROHIBITIONS TIMELINE:
– Starting August 1, 2026, it’s illegal to knowingly manufacture, distribute, transfer, sell, or purchase a specified semiautomatic firearm, with exceptions.
– Exceptions allow transfers to heirs, out-of-state residents, or federally licensed dealers.

PENALTIES:
– First offense: Class 2 misdemeanor.
– Second or subsequent offense: Class 6 felony.
– Firearm dealers lose state permits if caught; felony offenders can’t possess firearms or certain weapons; misdemeanor offenders face a 5-year transfer ban.

EXEMPTIONS:
– Law enforcement, corrections, military, armored vehicle businesses, gunsmithing instructors/students, historical societies (if inoperable), forensic labs, and film prop use (blanks only).
– Individuals can buy if they’ve completed a hunter education course plus a basic firearms safety course (within 5 years), or an extended firearms safety course (with refreshers if over 5 years).

FIREARMS SAFETY COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
– Basic Course: 4 hours, in-person, 90% exam score required.
– Extended Course: 12 hours over 2+ days, in-person, 90% exam score.
– Topics: Safe handling, storage, child safety, mental health-related firearm deaths, extreme risk protection orders, victim awareness.
– Requires a Firearms Safety Course Eligibility Card (valid 5 years), issued by sheriffs after background checks and attestations.

ELIGIBILITY:
– Applicants submit ID, background check, fees (sheriff processing + record fee); sheriffs can deny/revoke based on legal ineligibility or danger risk.
– False statements = perjury (Class 2); judicial review available if denied/revoked.

RAPID FIRE DEVICES:
– Defined as devices increasing a semiautomatic firearm’s firing rate (e.g., bump stocks); classified as dangerous weapons (possession already illegal).
– Repeals old “machine gun conversion device” definition.

RECORDINGS:
– Division of Parks and Wildlife creates a Firearms Training and Safety Course Record System to track cardholders and course completions.
– Funded by a fee (set by the Wildlife Commission), stored in a cash fund; initial costs borrowed from Parks and Outdoor Recreation Cash Fund (repaid by 2030).

ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS:
– Department of Revenue to provide guidance on affected firearm models.
– Appropriates $100,000 for IT services in 2025-26; adjusts prior appropriations to extend use into 2025-26.
– Large-capacity magazine possession bumped to Class 1 misdemeanor.

This isn’t just a bill—it’s a gauntlet thrown at every hunter, sport shooter, and home defender in Colorado. While they scrapped the outright ban after a huge pushback, but what’s left is a maze of red tape designed to make owning a semiautomatic firearm a privilege you’ve got to earn, not a right you’re born with.

Starting August 1, 2026, you’ll need to jump through hoops—hours of mandatory classes, a sheriff-issued “eligibility card,” and a 90% test score—just to buy a rifle or handgun that’s been legal for decades. Miss a step? You’re a criminal, facing misdemeanors or felonies that could strip your rights for good.

And don’t get me started on the exemptions—cops and soldiers get a free pass, but the Average Joe, Veterans, First Responders? You’re stuck paying fees and begging sheriffs for approval, with no guarantee they won’t deny you on a whim. The bill even ropes in “rapid-fire devices” like bump stocks, already banned, just to flex its muscle. Meanwhile, they’re siphoning cash from Parks and Wildlife to fund this nonsense— This is a backdoor tax dressed up as a “fee.”

This is personal. These “specified semiautomatic firearms” aren’t exotic toys—they’re the Ruger Mini-14s folks use to hunt, the shotguns guarding rural homes, the pistols keeping families safe. Crime stats show rifles barely blip in gun violence, yet lawmakers are treating you like a suspect for wanting one. It’s a solution chasing a problem that doesn’t exist, all while trampling your constitutional freedoms.

Time’s ticking—this bill’s cleared the House’s second reading. The Senate is due to vote on Wednesday, 3/26/25 and it will hit Governor Polis’s desk soon after.

Polis has waffled on gun bans before, so flood his office with calls, emails, and letters (303-866-2471, [email protected]).

Hit up your state reps and senators too— Politely remind them who they work for. Join rallies, spread the word on X and all social medias, link up with groups like Rocky Mountain Gun Owners to amplify the fight. Tell them: SB25-003 isn’t safety—it’s control, and we won’t stand for it. Act now, or by 2026, your rights could be locked behind a sheriff’s clipboard.

SOURCES:
https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2025A/bills/2025a_003_rer.pdf

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