The Colorado chapter of the National Rifle Association sued state leadership Tuesday over a sweeping firearm regulation that will require Coloradans to take safety courses to purchase most semiautomatic rifles starting next August.
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The Colorado State Shooting Association argues in its lawsuit, filed in federal court in Denver, that Senate Bill 25-3 is unconstitutional on Second Amendment grounds and will not hold up under recent judicial precedent related to firearm laws.
"The Act's cumbersome and expensive pre-purchase training and certification requirements are also designed to effectively stall, if not stop entirely, those trying to exercise their Second Amendment protected rights," the lawsuit says.
In addition to CSSA, the plaintiffs include a domestic violence survivor, firearms instructor, wounded Air Force veteran with limited hand mobility, former law enforcement officer, CSSA board member who feels that his identity as a gay Jewish man make him a target for hate crimes, and 19-year-old man who intends to buy a gun in Colorado when he turns 21.
Democratic lawmakers passed SB-3 this year as one of the most comprehensive changes to firearm purchasing requirements in the state's history. It applies to semiautomatic rifles, shotguns or handguns with detachable magazines and establishes a permit-to-purchase system for those types of guns. It also bans rapid-fire trigger devices.
The bill was sponsored by Sen. Tom Sullivan of Centennial, Sen. Julie Gonzales of Denver, Rep. Andrew Boesenecker of Fort Collins and Rep. Meg Froelich of Englewood, all Democrats.
"They haven't been successful with their lawsuits in the past and I'm confident that the legislation we passed will stand up to their complaints in a court of law," Sullivan wrote in a text message to Colorado Newsline.
Froelich said sponsors expect legal challenges when they run "meaningful gun violence prevention legislation," and they write the policy to withstand those challenges.
A federal judge sided with the state on a challenge to its minimum purchasing age law earlier this summer.
Other states require safety training
Coloradans will need to get an eligibility card from their county sheriff, complete safety training and score at least 90% on a test to be able to purchase SB-3-covered guns. The length of that training will depend on whether the person has already completed a hunter education course through Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
It is not yet clear how much the process could cost from start to finish. During debate on the bill, Republicans argued that an already-strained CPW could not absorb increased demand for hunter safety courses.
The lawsuit alleges that the process will impose onerous requirements on the plaintiff's right to own common firearms used for self defense.
"The Act infringes on the individual Plaintiffs' ability to do so by prohibiting the acquisition and possession of particular firearms and firearm-related equipment, and by imposing a pre-purchase permitting scheme that consists of a complicated and multilayered application process, lengthy wait times, extensive course requirements, and numerous and costly fees," it says.
The requirements do not apply for the purchase of semi-automatic firearms with permanently attached magazines that comply with the state's ammunition limits.
The lawsuit also alleges that there is no historical tradition for this type of regulation, so the law will not hold up in the context of U.S. Supreme Court decisions like New York Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen from 2022. Ten states require gun buyers to complete safety training, according to Everytown for Gun Safety.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis' office declined to comment on the pending litigation. In his signing statement for the bill, however, Polis wrote that the bill "ensures that our Second Amendment rights are protected and that Coloradans can continue to purchase the gun of their choice for sport, hunting, self defense, or home defense."
CSSA is using lawyers from Mountain States Legal Foundation, the firm behind a challenge against New Mexico's gun purchase waiting period law. A panel of federal appellate judges recently decided that the law is likely unconstitutional and sent the question back to the lower court.
The plaintiffs in the Colorado case are demanding a jury trial.
This story was made available via the Colorado News Collaborative. Learn more at