Colorado gun owners have less time than they thought. The governor’s office directed Colorado Parks and Wildlife to launch the Senate Bill 25-003 firearms safety program July 20 — eleven days ahead of the August 1 statutory deadline. The Department of Revenue won’t publish the final list of covered firearms until July 1, leaving Coloradans nineteen days to determine whether their next purchase requires a permit.
CPW Program Manager Dan Coil told approximately 200 attendees at an April 2 public webinar that the agency is building the program from scratch with no comparable state model to follow. A 30-year law enforcement veteran who transferred into the position in October 2025, Coil described the goal as a “drivable car” by July 20 — functional, not finished. CPW will continue building after launch.
The process runs through four parties: CPW’s new database, county sheriffs, private firearms instructors, and licensed dealers. Applicants create an online profile and submit their application to the county sheriff with government-issued photo ID and a name-based background check from a third-party vendor. The statute prohibits using the CBI, CCIC, or NCIC systems for this check.
Applicants pay a $52 CPW fee pending Parks and Wildlife Commission approval at the May 6 meeting. Each county sheriff sets an additional processing fee independently, and some are expected to charge nothing. Both fees are collected before the sheriff reviews the application.
Hunters with verified CPW hunter education qualify for a four-hour basic course. Everyone else takes a 12-hour extended course. Both must be completed in person across at least two days, and no online option exists for either. Training Specialist Jamison Ellington developed a standardized curriculum with 12 volunteer concealed handgun permit instructors, meaning a hunter in Craig takes the same course as one in Pueblo. Instructors set their own prices; CPW is prohibited by statute from teaching the courses itself.
Kirk Teklits, CPW’s manager of business operations, said the database cost approximately $750,000 to build. CPW borrowed $1.5 million from its Parks Cash Fund to cover startup costs. Statute requires repayment with interest by 2030.
Deputy Director Richard Hollar of the Department of Revenue’s Firearms and Dealers Division told attendees DOR will release an initial draft of the covered firearms list May 15. A three-week public comment period follows. The final list publishes July 1. Dealers who encounter a firearm not on the list can request a Statement of Position from DOR.
The law governs purchases and transfers after July 20, not possession. Game wardens will not check hunters for SSF compliance in the field, and temporary transfers at shooting ranges or on hunting trips fall under statutory exceptions. The only current exemptions cover law enforcement officers purchasing firearms for line-of-duty use. Officers making personal purchases, active military, and firearms instructors must complete the process themselves — gaps Coil said he will submit to the governor’s office by June for the 2027 legislative session.
The federal challenge, Del Toro v. Polis, remains in discovery, with the Attorney General’s office telling Coil that phase concludes around October or November. Plaintiffs indicated in a September 2025 media release they did not plan to file an injunction, though Coil acknowledged that could change. CPW will not wait for the outcome.
Two in-person meetings remain: April 23 at CPW’s Hunter Education building at 6060 Broadway in Denver at 6:00 p.m., and May 4 in Durango. The April 2 webinar recording will post at cpw.state.co.us/specified-semiautomatic-firearms. Questions go to Program Assistant Tasha Peralta and the CPW team at DNR_CPW_FirearmSafety@state.co.us.
Support Independent Local Journalism — High Country Advocate was created as a real alternative to regional media that too often silences dissenting voices while taking sides in the political struggle. Producing in-depth, unflinching reporting like this series and others is expensive: servers, editing, research time, and legal review all add up quickly. If these articles have informed you or given you new perspective, please consider supporting HCA with a paid subscription — every subscriber helps keep this reporting strong and independent. 