The Denver Gazette reports that the Colorado State Shooting Association, the state’s NRA affiliate, has filed suit against Senate Bill 003. Signed by Gov. Jared Polis in April, the law requires anyone buying or selling semiautomatic rifles, shotguns, or handguns with detachable magazines to first complete a safety course through Colorado Parks and Wildlife. The law kicks in August 1, 2026. CSSA and six individual plaintiffs, represented by the Mountain States Legal Foundation, argue the measure violates the Second Amendment under the Supreme Court’s Bruen precedent. “A government that makes you ask permission to buy a firearm isn’t protecting your rights – it’s trampling them,” said CSSA president Ray Elliott.
The Bullet Point Brief
- The new rule: Buy or sell a semi-auto with a detachable magazine in Colorado after Aug. 2026, and you first have to pass a state-run training course.
- The lawsuit: Filed by Mountain States Legal Foundation on behalf of CSSA and six citizens, arguing this is a blatant Bruen-violating infringement.
- Plaintiff’s view: “If the state tried these tactics on religion or free speech, even partisan judges would strike it down,” said CSSA’s legal team.
- The politics: Sponsored by Democrat lawmakers who know damn well it’s likely unconstitutional, but passed it anyway because one-party rule means “who cares”.
- The burden: Fighting it will take years, deep pockets, and probably a trip to SCOTUS – meanwhile, Coloradans’ rights are trampled under “gun safety” branding.
My Bottom Line
Those of us who raged against this bill in testimony last session said from the start: it’s unconstitutional. But here’s the deal – only a court can make that call, not a county commissioner or a citizen with a microphone. And that’s the dirty little secret of one-party control: Democrats often pass laws they know won’t survive scrutiny, betting that the legal process will eat up years, millions in attorney fees, and the stamina of everyday citizens.
In the meantime, your rights are stripped. Colorado’s court system is stacked with Democrat activists in robes, not jurists. They’ll probably rubber-stamp it. To get real relief, you have to run the gauntlet to the federal courts, maybe even the Supreme Court, and who can afford that? Certainly not the working Coloradan who’s just trying to exercise their God-given right to self-defense.
That’s not justice. That’s tyranny dressed up in ambiguity and “safety.” And it thrives because too many Coloradans refuse to wake up and fight it. By the time this makes it through the courts, how many rights will already be gone?
