# Colorado Firearms Watch — full LLM context

> An informational reference site tracking Colorado's SB25-003 (the Specified Semiautomatic Firearms law, abbreviated SSF): the state's covered-model list and its changes, county eligibility-card status, the purchase process, training requirements, compliance costs, and litigation. It is a sourced reference, not legal advice and not advocacy. Every fact on the site links to a source and shows when it was checked and how it was verified.

## How to read this file

The statements below mirror what the site's pages assert, with the site's own dating. They are accurate as of the check dates the site publishes (most in July 2026). Where a claim is tied to a moving fact, it is labeled "as of" that date. The statute itself controls; the state's published list is guidance and is non-exhaustive. For anything a court or a dealer would rely on, consult the primary source the site links to, or a Colorado attorney.

## What the law is (as stated on the site)

- SB25-003, titled "Semiautomatic Firearms & Rapid-Fire Devices," was signed April 10, 2025. Its purchase requirements take effect August 1, 2026. Source: leg.colorado.gov bill page.
- The act defines a specified semiautomatic firearm as a semiautomatic rifle or semiautomatic shotgun with a detachable magazine, or a gas-operated semiautomatic handgun with a detachable magazine, with specific firearms and models excluded. The definition is characteristics-based, so the state's published list of covered makes and models is non-exhaustive and updated on an ongoing basis; the statute controls.
- From August 1, 2026, buying a specified semiautomatic firearm from a licensed dealer requires a firearms safety course eligibility card — issued by a county sheriff after a name-based background check — plus a qualifying safety course.
- The eligibility card is valid for five years. A passing course score is valid for five years from completion.
- Rapid-fire devices (for example bump stocks and binary triggers) were classified as dangerous weapons when the governor signed the bill on April 10, 2025. No grandfather provision applies to them.
- Firearms already possessed before August 1, 2026 are not affected by the purchase requirements.
- Background checks and courses completed for a Colorado concealed handgun permit (CHP/CCW) do not count toward this program; the two paths are separate.

## The purchase process (in order, as published by the state)

1. Create a Firearm Safety System (FSS) profile online at coloradofss.com. The application portal is live as of July 20, 2026.
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.
3. The sheriff reviews the application and issues an eligibility card if approved. The card is valid for five years.
4. Find a sheriff-verified firearms instructor anywhere in Colorado. The instructor checks your FSS record to determine which course you need.
5. Course tracks: a basic course of 4 hours for applicants with a CPW-verified hunter-education credential; an extended course of 12 hours over at least 2 days for everyone else.
6. Pass a written exam and a hands-on practical with a score of 90% or better.
7. At the time of sale, the dealer checks your eligibility in the FSS before completing the transfer.

## Costs (as published)

- Firearms training and safety course record fee: $52, collected by the sheriff's office and forwarded to Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
- Sheriff's office processing fee: set by each county; amounts vary. Confirm the exact fee and channel with the county where you apply.
- The site's compliance-cost page documents fees, course prices, and wait times with sources, and invites people to add what it cost them.

## Training details (community-sourced, attributed as such on the site)

- A sheriff-verified instructor reports that the required course, including the hands-on practical, has no live-fire or shooting-range component and can be taught anywhere with adequate indoor space.
- Per the same instructor, sheriff verification alone does not qualify someone to teach; instructors also complete Colorado Parks and Wildlife's train-the-trainer class and hold a CPW certification.

These two items are tagged "community" verification on the site because they come from a first-hand account rather than official guidance.

## Key dates (each sourced on /dates)

- April 10, 2025 — SB25-003 signed; rapid-fire-device provisions take effect.
- July 1, 2026 — list version published (Specified Semiautomatic Firearms guidance).
- July 20, 2026 — FSS application portal opens (coloradofss.com).
- July 20, 2026 — verified-instructor list expected.
- August 1, 2026 — SB25-003 purchase requirements take effect.

County sheriff's offices are not required to start on the same day; some are not reviewing applications until August 1, and others not yet at all. The county tracker records what each of the 64 counties has said.

## What the site deliberately does not assert

The site flags open questions rather than guessing at them. As published, state guidance does not fully specify whether the applicant arranges the name-based background check before the sheriff visit or the sheriff runs it during the visit, and it does not name an accepted background-check provider (one county, Denver, instructs applicants to submit third-party background-check results with the application packet). State guidance describes buying from a licensed dealer and does not address owner-assembled firearms or configuration changes to models the list does not name. Those gaps are stated as gaps, not filled in.

## Litigation

Active challenges to SB25-003 and related statutes are tracked from public court dockets, with docket links and plain-English event summaries. Filings in those cases cite implementation facts. NYSRPA v. Bruen is named on the site as the Supreme Court opinion setting the current Second Amendment text-and-history standard.

## Key pages map

- https://coloradofirearmswatch.org/ — home; routes to lookup, county status, and list changes.
- https://coloradofirearmswatch.org/sb25-003 — plain-English explainer of the law.
- https://coloradofirearmswatch.org/lookup — search the list by manufacturer and model, or check statutory characteristics.
- https://coloradofirearmswatch.org/list — the current list with its version and source PDF.
- https://coloradofirearmswatch.org/list/changes — every list revision, diffed entry by entry.
- https://coloradofirearmswatch.org/counties — status, fees, and application channel for all 64 county sheriffs.
- https://coloradofirearmswatch.org/process — the purchase pipeline, step by step, with sources.
- https://coloradofirearmswatch.org/training — course tracks, exam threshold, fees, and instructor verification.
- https://coloradofirearmswatch.org/cost — compliance costs, sourced and dated.
- https://coloradofirearmswatch.org/litigation — court-challenge tracker.
- https://coloradofirearmswatch.org/dates — every key date in one place.
- https://coloradofirearmswatch.org/ccw — the separate Colorado concealed handgun permit process.
- https://coloradofirearmswatch.org/alerts — email alert types and triggers.
- https://coloradofirearmswatch.org/about — why the site exists and how facts are checked.
- https://coloradofirearmswatch.org/corrections — report a source or error for human review.
- https://coloradofirearmswatch.org/privacy — data practices.
- https://coloradofirearmswatch.org/updates — the site's own public edit history.

## How to look things up

- To check a specific firearm, use /lookup: search by manufacturer and model. If it is not listed, the tool walks the statutory characteristics. Results show the source and the list version.
- To check what a county requires, use /counties and open your county's row or page for its status, application channel, fee, source, and last-checked date.
- To understand the law before the details, start at /sb25-003, then follow the links to /process, /training, /cost, and /counties.

## Corrections and contact

If a fact is wrong or out of date, report it at https://coloradofirearmswatch.org/corrections. Reports are reviewed by a person; those that check out are published with credit to the source provided. The site carries no advertising, no sponsored content, and no affiliate links.

## Provenance model

Every data record and rendered claim carries a source URL, a check date, and a verification tier: human, agent, community, or unverified. Automated watchers draft updates; a human reviews and approves every publication. Each sourced page ends with a footer listing its sources, check-date range, and review status. Content usage preferences are declared in /robots.txt (indexing and live AI answers allowed; model training not permitted).