2025 CO Assault Weapons Ban Bill Introduced: Everything You Need To Know

Posted on by Lesley Hollywood

 

The first day of the 2025 Colorado Legislative Session, Senate Democrats introduced SB25-003: Semiautomatic Firearms & Rapid-Fire Devices their latest and greatest “Assault Weapons” semi-automatic firearm ban bill.

This bill is far worse than the two Colorado AWB bills that have died in prior years, although bill sponsors are claiming SB25-003 is not a gun ban, and instead that it’s an “extension of the magazine ban”. The fight against this bill is also far different this year – and that’s important.

Understanding the bill – A list of prohibitions:

• Banning all sales and transfers (except to an heir) of “specified semi-auto firearms

• Banning of specified semiautomatic firearms per the language of the bill will include ALL semi-auto rifles and shotguns with a detachable magazine.

• It will also include ALL gas-operated semi-auto pistols with a detachable magazine. This includes ALL AR, AK, or similar pistols that use impingement, piston, or any diverted gas to cycle the action. There are a number of handguns like the S&W 5.7 pistol or HK P7 which look like a normal handgun, but they would be banned by this because gas is utilized instead of simple blowback. In contrast, a blowback 9mm AR pistol would not be banned even though it looks identical to an AR chambered in a larger caliber.

• They do include an exemption for 22 and smaller rimfire calibers, “specified semiautomatic firearms” but if the firearm has an upper and lower receiver it would still be banned in 22LR, like an AR-22.

• Overall, all manual operated actions like bolt, pump, or lever action are exempt. Basic blowback handguns are not included as long as no gas is diverted for cycling and extracting the case. Roller-delayed blowback will be banned because of the diverted gas.

• Beyond going after semi-automatic firearms, they removed the existing definition of “machine gun conversion devices” and replaced it with broad language that makes any part, kit, etc designed to “increase the rate of fire” illegal. Bumpstocks, FRTs, Binary, rubber bands, belt loops, and Jerry Miculek’s finger would all be illegal to possess under the language of this bill.

This fight is going to look different this year:

Colorado has seen the rise and fall of similar attempts to ban semi-auto firearms the past two years and both failed. In 2023 and 2024, the AWB bill originated in the State House, which is always a bit of a circus. In 2023 it died in it’s first House committee hearing but in 2024 it eventually passed the full House chamber; where it stalled was the State Senate. Not only was it iffy then if they had the votes needed in the Senate, but Sen Tom Sullivan (D) was against the bill saying although he supported a federal assault weapons ban, he didn’t support one at the state level. He told the Washington Post then that he believed “It would inflame gun-rights supporters, was unlikely to be enforced and would not curb the vast majority of shootings.”  Now this year Sen Tom Sullivan is sponsoring this bill, although he is pushing the narrative that this not an assault weapons ban, but an expanded magazine ban. During an interview with the Denver Post, he reiterated his opposition to a state-level assault weapons ban and  In addition, there are 18 Senate sponsors between prime and co-sponsors on it as written – and they only need 18 votes in the Senate to pass this. If it passes the senate it will sail through the House.

We know this bill was written by Bloomberg and Everytown, and handed to Sullivan. Sullivan STILL claims to be against a state level AWB, reiterating this to both the Denver Post and the Colorado Sun. Were Sullivan and his 17 co-sponsors sold a line of straight up lies by Bloomberg’s lawyers and lobbyists that this wasn’t going to ban guns. Did they really believe this was an expanded magazine ban? It’s likely Sullivan didn’t even read the bill before it was introduced, nor did his fellow co-sponsors. They’re just acting as lapdogs to lobbyists.

Here’s what you can do right now:

We need you to contact all Democrat Colorado State Senators and tell them why you oppose this bill. Use plain language. Remember the people you are messaging to most likely don’t know anything about guns, so speak to them in that way. Teach them. CLICK HERE to email all Democrat State Senators at once.

 

Read the bill text: https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2025A/bills/2025a_003_01.pdf

Read the Colorado Sun article: https://coloradosun.com/2025/01/08/colorado-semiautomatic-detachable-magazine-gun-ban

Read the Denver Post article: https://www.denverpost.com/2025/01/03/colorado-legislature-gun-control-tom-sullivan-assault-weapons-ban-strategy

COLORADO GRAPH: 12 Gun Control Laws Pass in 4 years and Homicide Rate Skyrockets

Posted on by Lesley Hollywood

 

In Colorado, gun control laws have been stacking up every year since finding itself as one of the first battleground states for Red Flag laws in 2018. The Red Flag ERPO bill first failed in 2018, followed by passage in 2019. Prior to that the state had been pretty quiet on the gun control front since 2013 when Colorado passed magazine capacity limits and universal background checks. The 2013 measures led to the recall of three state legislators.

But Colorado has certainly changed a lot since those days: it’s passed 12 new gun control measures in 4 years and it’s a far less safe state. Since 2019, Colorado has passed Red Flag ERPO, Repealed Preemption and Allowed Local Regulation of Firearms, Expanded Background Checks to Include Certain Misdemeanors, Created the Office Of Gun Violence Prevention, Safe Storage of Firearms requirements, Report Lost and Stolen Firearms requirements, Prohibited Firearms at Polling Places and Ballot Drop Boxes, implemented a Ghost Gun Ban, implemented a 3 Day Waiting Period, passed into law the Ability to Sue Gun Stores and Manufacturers, Raised the Minimum Purchase Age to 21, and Expanded Current Red Flag Law to allow more reporters. Whew. It’s been an exhausting few years.

The data used to compile the chart below was obtained from the Colorado State Division of Criminal Justice: Office of Research and Statistics (ORS). As you can see the homicide rate has simply skyrocketed, and most recent data shows that Colorado’s homicide rate has surpassed the national homicide rate for the first time in over 40 years.

Note: The colored dotted lines are the rates of rise in the homicide rate, and over the last 10 years (in the graph), the homicide rate has periodically been rising at faster and faster rates. This dispels any spurious arguments that the homicide rate would have been higher/worse, without the gun-laws.

Now this year, the Democrat super majority is rushing through another 10 gun control bills.

Here’s what we’re facing today: A so-called “Assault Weapons Ban”, Vehicle Firearm Storage requirements, Enhanced Concealed Carry Training requirements, Prohibition of Firearms in Sensitive Spaces, Firearm Merchant Category Code requirements, Creation of a Firearm Retailer Permitting and Oversight Program, Firearm and Ammo Excise Tax, Firearm Owner Liability Insurance requirement, and a bill to Disarm Armed School Staff and Security Programs. With the exception of the Armed School Staff bill (which died in committee), the rest are in some process making their way through the legislative session at this moment, at least 3 are heading to Governor’s desk and a couple others are not far behind.

If you would like to speak up about these bills, contact your state senators about HB24-1292 “Assault Weapons” Ban, HB24-1270 Liability Insurance, HB24-1349 Excise Tax, and HB24-1353 Retailer Permitting bill. These last four bills are all currently pending in the State Senate with only days left in the legislative session. Once you’ve contacted your own State Senator, please also contact this list.

 

FBI Colorado Crime Stats Show Incredibly Low Rate Of Murder By Rifles And Shotguns

Posted on by Lesley Hollywood

As Colorado gun owners and rights activists have been fighting the worst piece of legislation Colorado has ever seen: HB24-1292 “Prohibit Certain Weapons Used in Mass Shootings”, the progressives in the state legislature’s version of a so-called “Assault Weapons” ban, we hae been sifting through the latest crime data that’s available.

And it’s interesting.

According to the latest 2020 FBI-Uniform Crime Report data, if this “Assault Weapons” ban really only banned the scary black rifles, they’d be hitting an extremely low target.

In 2020 there were 8 murders by rifle, and one murder by shotgun. In comparison, there were 40 murders by knives. 

In 2019 there were 5 murders by rifle. 

The two screen shots below are from these spreadsheets that you can download here: 2020 and 2019. You are welcome to download and use the data at will. It was taken directly from the respective FBI-Uniform Crime Report data that is available to the public online.

A Brief Analysis:

There were 209 persons murdered in Colorado in 2019. Rifles were used in 5 of those murders. Handguns were used in 83, and knives, other weapons, and hands (fists and feet) combined were used in 74.

In terms of all murders in 2019, rifles were used in 2.39%. That’s the second lowest percentage, with shotguns being used the least in 1.44% of all Colorado murders, in 2019. Rifles were used much less than even non-firearms weapons and methods, such as knives, other weapons (both being used in around 15% of all murders, that year). Rifles were used less than half as much as bare hands, or feet (use in about 6% of all murders). The most frequent weapon used for murder were handguns, they were used in 39.7% of murders.

In terms of Crude Murder Rates, the rate for rifles is 0.089 per 100k population. That means that less than one tenth of a person is murdered with a rifle for every 100,000 people in Colorado. The Handgun Murder Rate was 1.48 murders per 100k population.

 

 

 

 

Colorado’s homicide rate has been skyrocketing since 2019 when the state made it a priority to start passing more gun control laws. In fact, since 2019, Colorado has passed into law over a dozen new gun control bills ranging from Red Flag laws to safe storage to expanded background checks.

You will see that while 2019 was in the period of the rising trend in the Homicide Rate in Colorado, it was right before the big jump from 2020 to 2022.