Bad Bill
Sponsors: Sen. Rhonda Fields (D-Aurora), Sen. Kyle Mullica (D-Thornton), Rep. Jennifer Bacon (D-Denver), Rep. Stephanie Vigil (D-Colorado Springs)
The bill requires firearm barrels to be sold or transferred in person by federally licensed firearm dealers. The legislation creates two misdemeanors: unlawful sale of a firearm barrel and unlawful possession with intent to sell or transfer a firearm barrel. Purchasers must be 18 years or older and legally eligible to purchase firearms under state and federal law, subject to exceptions.
Federally licensed dealers must record sales or transfers of firearm barrels for at least five years. The bill defines “firearm barrel” as “the tube, usually metal, of a firearm through which a projectile or shot is discharged.”
Federal law under 18 U.S.C. § 921 defines “firearm” to include frames and receivers but does not classify barrels as firearms requiring dealer transfers. The bill extends Colorado’s dealer transfer requirement to components not federally classified as firearms.
Questions include whether requiring dealer transfers for components differs from requiring dealer transfers for complete firearms, whether the five-year record retention creates a searchable database of purchasers, and whether Commerce Clause principles limit state authority to regulate items the federal government has chosen not to classify as firearms.
The bill assigns to Senate Judiciary Committee. No hearing is scheduled. Sponsors represent Aurora, Thornton, Denver, and Colorado Springs.
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