Watered-Down Version of Controversial Bill Leaps Major State Hurdle
Trevor Phipps
On day one of the 2025 Colorado legislative session, Democratic lawmakers swiftly proposed a bill that would essentially ban the majority of firearms purchased by gun owners.
The bill at first experienced much resistance from Second Amendment proponents, which motivated legislators to recently change their tune. Still, even with a number of amendments, Teller leaders are livid over this bill, and an array of other proposed anti-gun laws. They classify these as an attack against rural Colorado and maintain that the bombardment of anti-gun laws would clearly violate individual constitution rights. Moreover, they say their voices are being ignored by most lawmakers. As a result, scores of local elected leaders plan to hit the political trenches at the state Capitol in the next few months, as these gun issues wind to a conclusion for 2025.
When it was first introduced, Senate Bill 25-003, titled “Semiautomatic Firearms & Rapid-Fire Devices,” would have banned the sale or purchase of any semi-automatic firearm that has a detachable magazine. But by the time it made it to its second reading on the Senate floor, the bill went through major adjustments.
This version of the bill, which passed its first hurdle on Feb. 14, came with an amendment that allowed an exception to the weapons ban. If the new version of the bill is approved, an additional gun safety course would be required for those who wish to purchase or sell a semi-automatic firearm that has a detachable magazine.
The training course will be up to 12 hours, and it must include information about Colorado’s red flag law, firearm deaths associated with mental illness and victim awareness and empathy. And before anyone will be able to take the course, they must first go through a criminal background check to receive a firearms safety course eligibility card.
According to Teller County Commissioner Erik Stone, even with the new amendment, the bill still restricts the rights promised to citizens under the Second Amendment. “They introduced a sweeping amendment that said, ‘you know what we have listened and we have heard you and you can buy back your rights,’” Stone explained. “There are 12 hours of training that they are going to require in order to essentially get your permit to buy back your Second Amendment rights.”
Stone said that similar bills introduced in other parts of the country have failed in court due to them being unconstitutional. He said that since owning a gun is protected under the U.S. Constitution, the state government cannot require training to exercise a constitutionally protected right.
Stone encouraged residents to continue to fight the bill by testifying when it is debated. However, Stone said that even though he and several others have done everything they can to speak against the proposed legislation, many of their arguments have been ignored.
“There were 1,000 people signed up to testify on that bill,” Stone said. “It was about two to one the number of people testifying against the bill as there was testifying for it. Out of the 1,000 people that signed up, less than 600 people were allowed to testify because they cut off all testimony at 10 p.m. Everybody went home because I guess they didn’t want to miss their bedtime.”
Commissioners Voice Opposition to Other Gun-Related Bills
Another bill that the commissioners have testified against has to do with purchasing ammunition for firearms. House Bill 25-1133 called “Requirements for Sale of Firearms Ammunition” is designed to put more restrictions on bullet purchases.
If passed, the law would require that ammunition would only be accessible by the vendor and not out on shelves for the public. “Wherever you go (to purchase firearms and ammunition) and there are all these rows of ammunition, somehow they are going to have to keep you out of that area,” Stone said. “An employee must then get whatever it was you wanted and then they have to facilitate the proper handling of ammunition.”
The bill also requires people to be over 21 years old to purchase ammunition. Stone said that despite the efforts he made to testify against the bill, it passed through committee with little resistance from lawmakers.
Stone also mentioned another bill that is aimed at restricting gun shows where people can purchase firearms. According to the House Bill-1238 (“Gun Show Requirements”) summary, “the bill requires a gun show promoter to prepare a security plan and submit the security plan to each local law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the gun show.” The bill would also place certain requirements on gun show promoters.
Stone said that ever since state lawmakers started passed anti-gun legislation in 2014, gun crimes have actually increased due to other legislation passed that lets more criminals out of prison. Therefore, there is one bill related to firearms that Stone said he supports.
House Bill 25-1062 titled “Penalty for Theft of Firearms” does the opposite of what Stone says many other bills recently passed have done and increases the penalty for firearm theft. “In current law, the sentencing structure for theft, except for auto theft, is based on the value of the item stolen,” the bill’s summary states. “The bill exempts theft of firearms from that sentencing structure and makes theft of a firearm a class 6 felony, regardless of the firearm’s value. Subsequent violations, including multiple firearms stolen in the same criminal incident, are separate class 5 felonies.”
The commissioners plan to spend much of their time in the coming weeks testifying against proposed legislation that limits the rights of gun owners and those who want to purchase firearms.
