Colorado's Department of Revenue published a 152-page draft guidance document in May listing approximately 900 firearm makes and models that will require a state-issued training permit before purchase beginning August 1, sparking pushback from gun owners and dealers who say the list's scope exceeds what the underlying law requires. The public comment period closes midnight June 5.

The document was released May 15 under Senate Bill 25-003, which the Democrat-led legislature passed in 2025. Colorado's Firearms Dealer Division administers the program. The Colorado Springs Gazette reported May 25 that the draft covers gas-operated semiautomatic handguns with detachable magazines, semiautomatic rifles and shotguns with detachable magazines, and frames, receivers, and parts kits. Specific platforms appearing on the draft include Glock-pattern handguns, AK-platform rifles, and the full range of AR-15-style rifles — the core of modern commercial semiautomatic sales volume.

The Colorado State Shooting Association responded with a press release arguing the Department of Revenue failed to honor commitments made to legislators during committee hearings when the bill advanced. The CSSA pointed specifically to the inclusion of rimfire .22 caliber rifles — the Ruger 10/22 was cited among examples — and pump-action shotguns, neither of which is a semiautomatic firearm by any mechanical definition. Pump shotguns are manually operated through a distinct reciprocating action; their presence on a semiautomatic firearms guidance list appears to be either a drafting error or a deliberate expansion beyond the statute's stated scope, and the CSSA has asked the FDD to remove them before the final guidance is published.

Under SB25-003, a dealer selling any specified semiautomatic firearm to a buyer who has not completed a state-approved in-person firearm safety course faces civil penalties. Buyers must complete the training before the sale. Dealers will be required to verify course completion at the point of sale, adding documentation requirements to every covered transaction. Complete Colorado has reported that critics are concerned that if the FDD does not correct the erroneous pump-action and rimfire inclusions before the final guidance releases July 1, those products will be pulled into the permit-verification regime alongside true semiautomatic platforms.

The Department of Justice has filed separate federal suits against Denver and Colorado over a 37-year-old citywide AR-15 ban and a statewide magazine-capacity restriction. Those proceedings are unrelated to SB25-003 and remain pending.

The FDD's public comment form is available through the Colorado Department of Revenue's Specialized Business Group website through midnight June 5. The final guidance list is due July 1, leaving dealers and distributors approximately one month before the August 1 enforcement date to train staff and build compliance systems around whatever the final list contains. Whether the FDD narrows the scope in response to comments — removing the pump shotguns, the 10/22, and other clearly misclassified entries — will determine how disruptive the August 1 cutover proves to be for Colorado gun counters.