Gun rights could take a significant blow in the Rocky Mountain State if Senate Bill 3 is signed into law.
On Feb. 18, 2025, the Colorado Senate passed SB 3 by a 19-15 vote. The bill aims to prohibit the manufacture, purchase and sale of nearly all semi-automatic rifles, handguns, and shotguns capable of accepting detachable magazines.
Elected officials introduced SB 3 to expand upon Colorado’s 15-round magazine capacity limit. The bill is now in the Colorado State House where it is expected to pass without issue, owing to the safe 43-22 majority Democrats hold in this chamber of the Colorado General Assembly.
Pro-gun activists in the Rocky Mountain State have sounded the alarms against SB 3. Ian Escalante, the Executive Director of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, argued that SB 3 would “embolden” Attorney General Phil Weiser “to arbitrarily BAN GUNS as he sees fit.” Additionally, he warned that the bill’s passage would “turn responsible gun owners into CRIMINALS simply for owning firearms millions of Americans commonly use daily for sport, self-defense, and hunting.”
RMGO President Dudley Brown also lashed out against SB 3, singling out an amendment that was added to it at the last minute. He declared the following.
“The Colorado assault weapons ban went from bad to worse — with a midnight Senate amendment that turned it into a firearms owner ID card. Colorado is trying to leapfrog California into being the most anti-gun state and we’re going to fight like hell against it, all the way through.”
The amendment Brown was referring to deals with a training and identification requirement for buying certain semiautomatic firearms. This amendment creates an exemption to the proposed ban by allowing individuals to purchase these firearms if they finish a firearm safety course and are vetted by law enforcement. Coloradans would have to jump through the following hoops:
- Prospective buyers would be required to submit fingerprints to their local sheriff’s office for a background check.
- If the fingerprints are approved, sheriffs would issue a “firearms safety course eligibility card.”
- Individuals would then have to complete a mandatory training course.
SB 3 was passed in its current form after a deal was made to grant exemptions to the prohibition for prospective gun buyers who comply with the aforementioned pre-purchase conditions and requirements.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) has taken a slightly nuanced stance on SB 3. He emphasized the need to ensure the bill doesn’t infringe on legal, law-abiding gun owners’ rights for hunting, home defense, or sport. Polis believes lawmakers should focus on “guns used in crime” as opposed to “playing around with different gun models.” With the Senate amending SB 3, by including the training exemption, Polis is apparently satisfied with the current iteration of the bill and will likely sign it into law should it come to his desk.
Colorado has taken an anti-gun turn in the last 15 years. The Aurora movie theater mass shooting of 2012 galvanized Colorado’s political class to pass a slew of gun control measures. After the Aurora massacre, Colorado passed high-capacity magazine prohibitions and universal background checks. The Colorado state government continued its assault on the Second Amendment by passing other anti-gun measures such as red flag gun confiscation orders in 2019 and a mandatory firearm storage law in 2021.
In a similar vein, Colorado repealed its statewide firearm preemption law in 2021, thereby allowing cities and counties to implement more draconian firearms ordinances than state law. In 2023, Colorado passed a mandatory three-day waiting period between initiating a background check and taking possession of most firearms.
Colorado has gone in the wrong direction in the last decade. Passing SB 3 would only cement its status as one of the least friendly states for lawful gun ownership in the United States.
About José Niño
José Niño is a freelance writer based in Austin, Texas. You can contact him via Facebook and X/Twitter. Subscribe to his Substack newsletter by visiting “Jose Nino Unfiltered” on Substack.com.
Democratic party can not help themselves lie lie lie even when caught in a lie they continue to follow the same path. One would think that now waste fraud abuse is out in the open 8 years Obama 4 years Trump Best 4 years for our country still so much wasted spending. Then 4 years Biden that is 12 years of democrats who spent our money like dunking sailors. One would think they might offer to dig in on the waste fraud abuse offering to help. There idea of help is to remove more of our freedoms while attacking the… Read more »
Those lefty loons who stole the elections in Colorado are just begging for an armed revolt by their citizens, to be removed from office, and to be smacked down by SCOTUS, all at the same time. They wouldn’t allow any of those infringements to be attached to free speech, worship, or any other enumerated right, because they know it’s totally unconstitutional. They are just doing it to force the public to suffer until the courts or We the People shut them down.
Colorado and California are both communist controlled shitholes , the majority of citizens in these 2 states are idiots with low IQs . Average IQ in these blue states appears to be around 60.
Ban rogue politicians who don’t adhere to the Constitution.
It’s time for every sports person to boycott this slum state.The monies not spent on hunting, lodging, fishing, restaurants, should change their anti-gun stance. I personally would not even drive through this state.
There will be major lawsuits the moment this is signed.
Every 2A group should join in that lawsuit.
It’s std anti-2A strategy folks, ink the BS and then wait on it in the courts. Many times the Plaintiffs don’t get a TRO, or if they do it’s too short.
Go to a gun show this weekend and buy guns, magazines and lots of ammo and accessories !@
Once the far leftist democrats ban semi autos in Colorado, how soon will it be before they came after lever action rifles. bolt action rifles and revolvers?
And require a permit and waiting period to purchase any ammo?
Sure. the gun groups can sue the state, but like in Commiefornia. It gets tied up in te courts for years.