Last Friday, Colorado Senate Democrats announced that the Senate sent SB25-003 to Governor Jared Polis’ desk after voting to occur with final amendments by the House. The bill would set stricter rules for buying certain gas-powered semi-automatic guns with detachable magazines, including requiring buyers to receive gun safety education.
The governor’s office had not yet received the bill as of Tuesday afternoon, according to Shelby Wieman, speech writer and press secretary for the State of Colorado. Wieman said that once the bill has been received, Polis will have 10 days to take action on the bill.
“The Governor had major concerns with early versions of the bill and was clear he would oppose banning any guns, and his team worked with the sponsors to amend the bill to address these concerns,” Wieman said. “The final bill allows responsible Coloradans to continue to purchase the gun of their choice for hunting or sports shooting as long as they receive adequate gun safety education.”
Wieman did not officially confirm whether or not Polis is expected to sign the bill.
After the bill passed its concurrence vote in the Senate last week, the Colorado State Shooting Association published a petition “to demand Governor Jared Polis veto the semi-automatic firearm ban and gun owner registry (SB25-003)” on Google Forms.
The petition states: “we the undersigned being registered electors in the State of Colorado, in recognition of the right to keep and bear arms guaranteed to us by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and repeatedly reaffirmed by the United States Supreme Court, including recent decisions such as Bruen, hereby demand that Governor Jared Polis veto Senate Bill 25-003, or the Semi-Automatic Firearm Ban, in the case it is approved by the legislature and placed upon his desk for signature into law.”
According to Colorado Senate Democrats, the bill would not impact the sale of shotguns, common hunting rifles, semiautomatic firearms with fixed magazines, or almost all handguns. The sale of recoil-operated handguns, which make up more than 90 percent of the pistol market, would not be impacted by the bill. The bill would also not impact the possession of currently-owned firearms.
“Semiautomatic weapons and high-capacity magazines have been used in numerous mass shootings in Colorado, including the 2021 Boulder King Soopers shooting, the 2022 Club Q shooting, and the Columbine High School massacre,” Colorado Senate Democrats said.
