← All counties

How to buy a specified semiautomatic firearm in El Paso County, Colorado

Buying a specified semiautomatic firearm in Colorado from 2026-08-01 requires a firearms safety course eligibility card, issued by your county sheriff after a name-based background check. This page is the El Paso County version of that process: what the county publishes, what it charges, and what is still unanswered.Check your exact model against the state's listbefore you start.

Every step, in order

These 8 steps run in order and are the same statewide. Step 2 is the only one your county controls, so it is expanded with what El Paso County publishes.

1. 1

   Create a Firearm Safety System (FSS) profile online at coloradofss.com. The application portal is live as of July 20, 2026.

2. 2

   Take a government-issued photo ID and a name-based background check to your county sheriff's office. Fees are collected at this step.

   In El Paso County

   El Paso County has not published the operational detail for this step — no hours, form, or document list. What it does publish is quoted below. Been through it? Tell me what they asked for.

3. 3

   The sheriff reviews the application and issues an eligibility card if approved. The card is valid for 5 years.

4. 4

   Find a sheriff-verified firearms instructor anywhere in Colorado. The instructor checks your FSS record to determine which course you need.

5. 5

   Basic course: 4 hours, for applicants with a CPW-verified hunter-education credential. Extended course: 12 hours over at least 2 days, for everyone else.

6. 6

   Pass a written exam and a hands-on practical with a score of 90% or better.

7. 7

   A passing course score is valid for 5 years from the date you complete it.

8. 8

   At the time of sale, the dealer checks your eligibility in the FSS before completing the transfer.

What it costs in El Paso County

The sheriff fee and the $52 CPW record fee are separate charges and add together. Course prices and background-check vendor prices are not published by anyone, so the total above is a floor, not a quote. Seewhat this process has actually cost people.

What El Paso County actually published

"Colorado Parks and Wildlife requires a $52.00 processing fee for all applications. Sheriff Roybal has chosen to waive the El Paso County Sheriff's Office processing fee for El Paso County residents. Applicants who reside outside El Paso County will be charged a $35.00 Sheriff's Office processing fee in addition to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife processing fee."

The El Paso County Sheriff's Office publishes an eligibility-card page stating the application is available on August 1, 2026, and applications are submitted through the office's online portal at app.permitium.com/online-portal/coelpaso. The published fee table lists the Sheriff's Office fee as $0.00 for El Paso County residents and $35.00 for applicants who do not reside in El Paso County; Sheriff Roybal has waived the office's processing fee for county residents. The separate CPW administrative fee is $52.00 in both cases, for a published total of $52.00 for residents and $87.00 for non-residents. The fee recorded here is the resident Sheriff's Office fee. The page states an applicant may obtain a card from any Colorado Sheriff's Office and that processing fees vary by agency.

Report a correction · Report what this process cost · Back to all counties · FIPS 08041