Does Colorado Have an Assault Weapons Ban?

Colorado's SB 25-003 took effect August 1, 2026. It 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, and excludes listed types such as manually operated firearms, .22-or-smaller rimfire firearms without separate upper and lower receivers, and firearms with a permanently fixed magazine holding 15 rounds or fewer. It is structured around safety courses and an eligibility card rather than a prohibited-feature list.

The act makes it unlawful to knowingly manufacture, distribute, transfer, sell, or purchase a specified semiautomatic firearm, subject to listed exceptions. A buyer qualifies by completing the required hunter-education and basic, or extended, firearms safety courses, and enrolling in a course requires a sheriff-issued eligibility card. Other exceptions cover law enforcement agencies and peace officers, armored-vehicle businesses, the armed forces in official duties, gunsmiths, transfers by operation of law or upon death, and transfers to a licensed dealer or an out-of-state resident.

There has been no federal assault weapons ban since the 1994 ban expired in 2004; no feature restrictions apply federally to semi-automatic rifles or pistols. The 2023 ATF pistol-brace rule was vacated by the courts and is not enforced, but federal SBR classification for a brace-equipped firearm still turns on whether the specific weapon is designed and intended to be fired from the shoulder. Garland v. Cargill (2024) held that a bump stock is not a machine gun under federal law. Feature bans are entirely a matter of state law.

Federal baseline verified 2026-10-20. Scope: State laws restricting semi-automatic rifles, pistols, and shotguns by configuration features: threaded barrels, pistol grips, folding or telescoping stocks, flash suppressors, forward grips, and similar. Magazine capacity limits are tracked as a separate class.