When do Colorado's new gun laws take effect?
Last verified against primary sources: · Updated
The date that matters most is August 1, 2026. That is when the core prohibition in SB25-003 — C.R.S. § 18-12-116(2) — takes effect, making it unlawful to manufacture, distribute, transfer, sell, or purchase a "specified semiautomatic firearm" in Colorado unless the buyer has completed the state's new safety-course pathway.
Other pieces of SB25-003 have been in force since it was signed on April 10, 2025, and several separate 2026 gun bills carry their own effective dates through the summer of 2026. The full timeline is below.
The one date to remember: August 1, 2026
SB25-003, signed April 10, 2025, added C.R.S. § 18-12-116 to the criminal code. Its core prohibition carries an explicit, delayed start date written into the statute itself:
On or after August 1, 2026, it is unlawful for any person to knowingly manufacture, distribute, transfer, sell, or purchase a specified semiautomatic firearm; except that a person may sell or transfer a specified semiautomatic firearm to an individual residing in another state or a federally licensed firearm dealer.
From that date, buying a covered firearm — most semiautomatic rifles and shotguns with detachable magazines, and gas-operated semiautomatic handguns with detachable magazines — requires the eligibility-card and safety-course pathway. Owning a firearm you already have is not affected, and there is no registration requirement.
Why some parts started in 2025 and others start later: safety clause vs. default date
Colorado bills take effect in one of two ways. A bill with a safety clause — a declaration that the act "is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety" — takes effect the moment the Governor signs it. A bill without a safety clause takes effect on a default date: 90 days after the legislature adjourns (for the 2026 session, that default date is August 12, 2026).
SB25-003 has a safety clause (Session Laws of Colorado 2025, Ch. 68, Section 13) and was approved April 10, 2025, so the act as a whole took effect that day. But its central purchase/sale ban has a separate, later trigger written into the text — "on or after August 1, 2026" — so that specific prohibition does not begin until then. Several 2026-session bills, by contrast, have no safety clause and simply fall on the August 12, 2026 default date.
Timeline: Colorado gun-law dates, 2025-2026
| Date | What happened / happens |
|---|---|
| Apr 10, 2025 | SB25-003 signed; act effective on signature (safety clause). The rapid-fire-device reclassification, the large-capacity-magazine penalty bump (to a class 1 misdemeanor), and the card/course infrastructure all begin. |
| Jul 1, 2026 | HB26-1144: manufacturing a firearm, unfinished frame or receiver, large-capacity magazine, or rapid-fire device by 3-D printing is prohibited (bill page). |
| Jul 20, 2026 | State Firearms Safety System application portal opens (per Colorado Parks & Wildlife). |
| Aug 1, 2026 | § 18-12-116(2) manufacture / distribute / transfer / sell / purchase prohibition begins. This is the core "specified semiautomatic firearm" change. |
| Aug 12, 2026 | Default effective date for several other 2026 acts passed without a safety clause, including HB26-1265 (law-enforcement eTrace participation) and SB26-004 (expanded red-flag / extreme-risk petitioners). |
A common date mistake: some summaries state that SB25-003 took effect on "August 12, 2026." That appears to be a copy of the generic default-date language that applies to other 2026 bills. SB25-003's own enrolled text sets its purchase/sale prohibition to begin "on or after August 1, 2026" — so August 1, not August 12, is the operative date for the semiautomatic-firearm ban.
Is the August 1, 2026 date settled?
Court challenge, status as of July 20, 2026: SB25-003's eligibility-card scheme is being challenged in federal court (Del Toro v. Polis, D. Colo., No. 1:25-cv-02725, filed Sept. 2, 2025). As of our last check, no injunction blocks any part of the law and August 1, 2026 remains the operative date. Court status here is drawn from case-tracking services and news reporting, not court orders directly, and can change quickly.
Common questions
What is the most important new Colorado gun-law date?
August 1, 2026. That is when C.R.S. § 18-12-116(2) makes it unlawful to manufacture, distribute, transfer, sell, or purchase a "specified semiautomatic firearm" in Colorado unless the buyer has completed the new safety-course pathway.
Did SB25-003 take effect on August 12, 2026?
No. The act itself took effect on signature, April 10, 2025, because it has a safety clause, and its core purchase/sale prohibition begins "on or after August 1, 2026" per the statute. The August 12, 2026 date applies to several other, separate 2026 bills that have no safety clause.
Why is August 12, 2026 a common Colorado effective date?
It is the default effective date for 2026-session bills passed without a safety clause — 90 days after the legislature adjourned. Bills like HB26-1265 and SB26-004 fall on that date; SB25-003 does not.
When does the 3-D-printed-firearm ban start?
July 1, 2026. HB26-1144 prohibits knowingly manufacturing a firearm, unfinished frame or receiver, large-capacity magazine, or rapid-fire device by 3-D printing, effective that date.
When does the safety-course application system open?
July 20, 2026. Colorado Parks & Wildlife states the Firearms Safety System application link becomes available July 20, 2026, ahead of the August 1, 2026 purchase-rule start.
Primary sources for this page
- SB25-003 enrolled act (PDF) — Colorado General Assembly
- SB25-003 bill page — Colorado General Assembly
- Session Laws of Colorado 2025, Ch. 68 — Colorado General Assembly
- HB26-1144 bill page — Colorado General Assembly
- HB26-1265 bill page — Colorado General Assembly
- SB26-004 bill page — Colorado General Assembly
- Specified semiautomatic firearms — Colorado Parks & Wildlife