Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) signed the Democrats’ semiautomatic firearm ban into law last week and it means state residents wanting an AR-15 will have to first secure an “eligibility card” from their local sheriff.
Breitbart News tracked the semiautomatic firearm ban as it made its way through the Colorado legislature, warning that it would ban wildly popular AR and AK-rifles and their variants, as well as numerous shotguns and some pistols.
Gov. Polis signed the legislation on April 10, 2025, and the ban will take effect in August 2026. After that time, anyone who wants an AR-15 or similar rifle–or one of the banned shotguns or pistols–will have to go to their local sheriff and work with him to be approved.
The Colorado Sun explained how the process will work: “…People will have the ability to purchase firearms banned under Senate Bill 3 if they get a ‘firearms safety course eligibility card.’ To get a card, a person would have to first be vetted by their county sheriff, which would include a background check.”
There is more, the Sun noted:
Once someone gets an eligibility card, they must complete up to a dozen hours of training over two days, depending on whether they have already completed a hunter education course, and pass a test. At that point they would be allowed to purchase a weapon otherwise banned under Senate Bill 3.
The creation of the “eligibility card” requirement for certain gun purchases places Colorado in a situation much like the one currently in place in Illinois, where would-be gun owners must first submit to an approval process to receive a Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card. In Illinois, the FOID card is required for any firearm ownership while in Colorado, for now, the “eligibility card” will only be necessary for the acquisition of banned firearms.
Criminals, however, will be able to acquire the banned firearms just as they always do.
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AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, a Pulsar Night Vision pro-staffer, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly:
