Gun controls, including a semiautomatic firearms ban and ammunition controls, secured final passage in the Colorado legislature Friday and have been sent to Gov. Jared Polis’s (D) desk.
On February 20, 2025, Breitbart News noted that the semiautomatic firearms ban had passed the Colorado Senate. In order to secure Gov. Polis’s support, Senate Democrats added language to the ban which allows gun purchasers to secure an exemption to the prohibition by going through a process similar to concealed carry permit vetting, then taking a “four-hour training course.” Would-be purchasers who do not have hunter safety certification will have to go through a bit more training in order to secure the exemption.
On March 25 Breitbart News pointed out that the semiautomatic firearms ban had passed the Colorado House, but there remained differences between the legislation passed in the House and Senate that would have to be reconciled.
On March 28, 2025, the Denver Post reported that the semiautomatic firearms ban, together with new ammunition controls, “received final procedural votes…on Friday.”
If signed into law, the semiautomatic firearms ban will take effect on August 1, 2026. The Colorado Sun observed that the ban will prohibit “most semiautomatic rifles as well as some semiautomatic pistols and shotguns.”
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:
