Colorado’s August permit-to-purchase law nears as gun group readies a new lawsuit

DENVER — A Colorado law that requires buyers of many semiautomatic firearms to obtain a sheriff-issued eligibility card and complete a safety course takes effect on August 1, and a gun-rights group said it would announce a new lawsuit the same week over the legislature’s latest firearm measures. SB25-003, signed by Gov. Polis in April 2025, sets up the new purchase process. The Colorado State Shooting Association planned a 1:30 p.m. press conference on June 12 at the Centennial Gun Club to unveil what it described as a challenge to the state’s newest firearm bills. Teddy Collins announced the event on The Kim Monson Show.

Collins is a Republican candidate for the Colorado State Senate. His Colorado Springs firearms store, Spartan Defense, sponsors the show. He urged listeners to act before the August deadline. “I would get what you need to get beforehand. Otherwise, you might find yourself sitting in a two-day class and having to go to the sheriff to get fingerprinted and licensed in order to purchase a semi-automatic firearm,” Collins said.

What the August permit law requires

SB25-003 prohibits the purchase, sale, or transfer of a “specified semiautomatic firearm” on or after August 1, 2026, unless the buyer has cleared a new permitting process. The law covers semiautomatic rifles and shotguns that accept a detachable magazine and gas-operated semiautomatic handguns with a detachable magazine. Lower-power rimfire rifles and certain models are excluded.

To buy a covered firearm, a person must first obtain a Firearms Safety Course Eligibility Card from their county sheriff, which requires a name-based background check and a photo ID and is valid for five years. The buyer then completes a safety course from a sheriff-verified instructor, a four-hour Basic course for those with hunter-education credentials or a 12-hour Extended course, with the Extended course provided on at least two different days. The applicant must pass a written exam and a hands-on test at 90%. Completion is logged in a Colorado Parks and Wildlife database, and the licensed dealer verifies eligibility at the point of sale.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife, which administers the program, says the online application portal opens July 20. Fees include a $52 state record fee, charged whether or not an application is approved, plus separate county and instructor fees. The agency describes the sheriff’s step as a name-based background check tied to the cardholder’s identity. The act also classifies rapid-fire devices, including bump stocks and binary triggers, as dangerous weapons.

The bill’s sponsors were all Democrats: Sens. Tom Sullivan and Julie Gonzales and Reps. Andrew Boesenecker and Meg Froelich. SB25-003 carries a safety clause.

A lawsuit over the 2026 firearm bills

Collins said the CSSA would use the June 12 press conference to announce “a lawsuit against the state on some of their newest anti-gun bills.” He described the event as a CSSA announcement and did not detail a court, a case caption, or the full list of challenged measures.

The CSSA had signaled its intent days earlier. On June 3, the day after Gov. Polis signed HB26-1126, the group posted on its own account that it would sue. “We said we’d sue if he signed it. See you in court,” the CSSA wrote. HB26-1126, the Requirements for Firearms Dealers act, extends dealer permitting and training rules to a “responsible person,” lets the Department of Revenue fine dealers up to $75,000 for repeat violations, and extends record-keeping to all retail firearm transactions while barring the state from building a firearm-ownership registry from those records. It also adds security requirements and a 48-hour deadline to report a firearm theft.

The new lawsuit is separate from an earlier challenge to the permit law. In September 2025, the CSSA, joined by the Mountain States Legal Foundation, sued in federal court over SB25-003, according to Colorado Politics.

A gun-store owner runs for the Senate

Collins is running in the Republican primary for state Senate District 4, set for June 30. He cast his campaign around what he called a worsening climate for Colorado businesses.

State data lends some support to that framing. Colorado lost roughly 11,700 jobs in 2025, its first annual decline since the pandemic, according to The Colorado Sun. Palantir moved its headquarters to Miami in early 2026, and RE/MAX is relocating its headquarters to Miami through an acquisition while keeping significant operations in Denver. Democrats hold the state Senate 23 to 12, so Republicans would need to gain six seats for a majority, according to Ballotpedia.

Collins tied the firearm debate to founding principles. “At the end of the day, the Second Amendment, the entire purpose was to put in check a tyrannical government,” he said on the show. “And without it, we wouldn’t have any of the liberties we have in this country.” Host Kim Monson connected the issue to broader rights. “The Second Amendment is put in place to protect those things,” Monson said, referring to the freedoms of speech, religion, and the press.