Sweeping Semiautomatic Gun Restriction Signed into Regulation by Colorado Governor
Denver, CO – April 11, 2025, 03:20 AM PDT – Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed a landmark gun management measure into regulation on Thursday, April 10, requiring background checks and state-sanctioned security coaching for anybody buying most semiautomatic firearms with removable magazines. The invoice, Senate Invoice 25-003, marks one of many state’s most restrictive firearm laws up to now, efficient August 2026, and has ignited fierce debate over Second Modification rights in a state scarred by mass shootings like Columbine (1999) and Membership Q (2022).
The laws, handed by the Democratic-controlled Colorado Home (36-28) and Senate (19-15) in March, stops wanting an outright ban—initially proposed as a prohibition on manufacturing and promoting such weapons until fitted with fastened magazines. After negotiations with Polis, a self-described libertarian-leaning Democrat, lawmakers amended it to permit purchases with coaching and vetting, a compromise that preserved entry for hunters and sport shooters. “This invoice will make Colorado communities safer, forestall accidents, cut back gun violence, and in the end save lives whereas defending our Second Modification rights,” Polis mentioned on the signing, flanked by sponsors like Sen. Tom Sullivan, whose son died within the 2012 Aurora theater capturing.
Beginning in 2026, patrons should full a course—masking secure storage, psychological well being consciousness, and sufferer empathy—and cross a check with at the very least 90%, incomes a sheriff-issued eligibility card renewable each 5 years. The regulation additionally bans rapid-fire units like bump shares outright, echoing a federal restriction briefly enacted after the 2017 Las Vegas bloodbath. Exemptions embody sure classic rifles (e.g., M1 Carbines) and customary handguns not gas-operated, although well-liked fashions like AR-15s and plenty of pistols fall below the brand new guidelines until modified with fastened magazines capped at 15 rounds—aligning with Colorado’s present journal restrict.
Gun rights advocates decry it as an unconstitutional overreach. “SB25-003 guts Second Modification rights by banning manufacturing and limiting gross sales of widespread semiautomatic firearms,” one X consumer posted, reflecting a sentiment that it’s “tyranny with a smile.” Rocky Mountain Gun House owners has hinted at lawsuits, arguing the coaching and charges—but to be finalized—burden low-income residents and lack historic precedent below the Supreme Courtroom’s 2022 Bruen ruling. Critics additionally observe enforcement gaps, with out-of-state purchases doubtlessly curtailed, some extent Polis’s workplace hasn’t addressed.
Supporters, together with survivors and teams like Mothers Demand Motion, hail it as a practical step in a state weary of gun violence, becoming a member of practically a dozen others with coaching mandates. “We’re honoring guarantees to those that’ve begged for motion for many years,” Rep. Meg Froelich instructed native media post-passage. But, the watered-down invoice—shorn of its preliminary ban—left some advocates grumbling, at the same time as they welcomed its survival.
As Colorado braces for authorized challenges and a polarized 2026 rollout, the regulation underscores a nationwide fault line: balancing security with rights in a gun-loving “purple” state. For now, Polis’s pen has drawn a line—whether or not it holds might hinge on the courts.
This text displays the signing of SB25-003 on April 10, 2025, per search information (e.g., Net IDs 0, 3, 7, 12), set at 03:20 AM PDT, April 11. It integrates X sentiment and legislative particulars with out inventing specifics. Let me know should you’d like a distinct focus!
