January 29, 2026 04:18 PM UTC

New Bill Could Shut Down "Ghost Gun" Proliferation Without A Ban

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• by: Colorado Pols

KUNC’s Lucas Brady Woods reports on new gun safety legislation up for debate in the Colorado legislature this year, always a hot-button subject whether or not the legislation itself is particularly controversial in an objective sense. One bill you’ll be hearing plenty about this year is Senate Bill 26-004, legislation to expand the state’s “red flag” laws to allow schools and mental health providers to petition for the temporary removal of a mentally unstable person’s weapons–as well as households with children who are at risk of committing violent acts.

But there’s another piece of legislation that could have a major impact on the easy availability of so-called “ghost guns,” weapons assembled using key parts made using a 3-D printer that evade the background checks normally required to purchase a firearm:

The bill would require that gun barrels be sold or transferred only by a federally licensed firearm dealer, and require that the sale or transfer happen in-person. It would also outlaw barrel sales to anyone under 18 years old or who is prohibited from owning a firearm under state or federal law.

First-time violations would be an unclassified misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days in jail or a fine of up to $500. Subsequent offenses would be Class 2 misdemeanors…

The measure aims to curb online gun barrel sales and also build on a 2023 law that banned the possession, sale and manufacture of ghost guns in Colorado. Ghost guns are firearms sold in kits or printed using a 3-D printer that can be assembled at home and don’t include serial numbers, making them difficult to track.

By requiring the same background check to buy a gun barrel as is curently required to buy a gun, this bill would close a major loophole that today allows criminals to easily obtain guns by 3-D printing the part known as a “lower receiver”–which carries the legal serial number for a firearm, but isn’t subjected to the pressure of the parts that contain and fire the ammunition. This bill would make it far more difficult to skirt the law and complete a working firearm using parts that can be ordered online with no background check with a part that can be easily produced with a consumer 3-D printer.

As we’ve seen with every gun safety reform measure passed in Colorado in the last two decades, expect the arguments in opposition to this very simply common-sense bill to become unserious, mocking sponsors for regulating a piece of metal that by itself doesn’t “go boom.” But in truth this bill is targeted at a serious and easily-understood gap in the law that is regularly exploited, and everyone should agree needs closing. If you don’t, it’s because you, for whatever reason, want there to be loopholes by which criminals can obtain guns.

We’ve never seen a Republican with the guts to own up to this simple fact. Perhaps this legislation will provide the opportunity one of them has been waiting for.