March 21, 2025 03:08 PM UTC

Assault Weapons Safety Course Bill Nears Final Passage

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• by: Colorado Pols

As Lucas Brady Woods reports for the Capitol News Alliance, the last big debate over this year’s landmark gun safety bill, Senate Bill 25-003 requiring a training course to purchase certain semiautomatic firearms including the AR-15, is playing out all day today in the Colorado House–where the Republican minority has no power to stop the bill from passing, but has promised to make today’s debate as excruciating as possible:

The measure is ultimately expected to get widespread support from the Democratic majority, but will likely also face a long filibuster from Republicans, who argue the measure is outright unconstitutional. The measure, Senate Bill 25-003, would make it illegal in Colorado to buy, sell and make most guns that use detachable magazines, including numerous rifles, shotguns, pistols and some handguns.

Supporters say it’s necessary to limit the damage caused during mass shootings by strengthening the state’s decade-old ban on magazines with more than fifteen rounds…

Originally an outright ban on a variety of semiautomatic weapons meeting specific criteria, the significantly amended legislation up today in the House will instead allow residents to buy those weapons after completing a training course specific to the operation of human killing machines, including information on the state’s extreme-risk protection order law to temporarily relieve persons who pose a danger to themselves and other of firearms through due process.

With the changes in place, Polis indicated he will sign the bill into law if it makes it to his desk, which is likely.

“We want to make sure there’s a workable and reasonable path forward for Coloradans who want to purchase weapons with attachable magazines for sports shooting, for hunting,” Polis said. “We can protect our Second Amendment rights here in Colorado and improve the education and gun safety knowledge of gun owners.” [Popls emphasis]

Although the House GOP’s 22-seat minority has vowed to put up a late-night fight against the bill, the only real chance they had to stop it was in the more closely divided Senate, where the big amendment creating a path to ownership for these weapons with training made the difference.

As a result, the state of Colorado will soon have one of the strongest laws regulating the sale of the weapon of choice for mass shooters in the nation, while still allowing their purchase after a round of common-sense training specific to the particularly dangerous weapons we’re talking about. This compromise will reduce easy access to these weapons while still letting those determined to own one for home defense or anti-tyrannical purposes do so sensibly. Some of the gun rights advocates opposing the bill today could be crying all the way to the bank next year by teaching these courses instead of complaining about them.

The “Guns For Everyone” extremists won’t like it, but for regular people this bill just makes sense.