SB25-003, in plain English
This page summarizes what the law says, with each statement sourced to state materials. It is a reference, not legal advice.
What the law does
SB25-003, "Semiautomatic Firearms & Rapid-Fire Devices," was signed April 10, 2025. Its purchase requirements take effect August 1, 2026.
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.
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 background check — plus a qualifying safety course.
The state publishes a list of covered makes and models as guidance. The definition is characteristics-based, so the list is non-exhaustive and is updated on an ongoing basis; the statute controls.
Look up a specific make and model with thelist search, or read theColorado SSF list with its current version and source PDF.
What it does not change
Background checks and courses completed for a concealed handgun permit (CHP/CCW) do not count toward this program.
Firearms already possessed before August 1, 2026 are not affected by this law.
Rapid-fire devices (for example bump stocks and binary triggers) were classified as dangerous weapons when the governor signed the bill, April 10, 2025. No grandfather provision applies.
If your question is whether any of this reaches firearms you bought before August 1, 2026, that has its own page:does SB25-003 apply to guns you already own?
Key dates
2025-04-10 — SB25-003 signed (rapid-fire device ban takes effect)
2026-07-20 — FSS application opens
2026-08-01 — SB25-003 effective
All tracked dates, in one place: /dates.
Where to go from here
- Guns you already own — why the requirements attach to a purchase or transfer rather than to possession, and the one provision that works differently.
- What SB25-003 exempts — the statutory categories outside the specified-semiautomatic-firearm definition, sourced to the bill text.
- The purchase pipeline — the step-by-step sequence from FSS profile to dealer transfer.
- Colorado county eligibility-card status and fees— what each of the 64 sheriffs has published, with sources.
- Colorado firearms safety course requirements— 4-hour vs 12-hour paths, exam thresholds, and instructor verification.
- Compliance costs — fees and time, documented.
- Litigation tracker — active court challenges, from public dockets.
- Buying a suppressor in Colorado — a separate Colorado statute, and what the August 2026 federal NFA registration ruling did and did not change here.
The state's own overview, with the covered-model list and course and eligibility-card details, is on CPW's page: cpw.state.co.us/specified-semiautomatic-firearms.