Yes, you can carry a gun in your car in Colorado without a permit, as long as you’re legally allowed to own the firearm and you’re carrying it for lawful protection while traveling. The rules are looser for handguns than for rifles and shotguns, tighter once you leave the car unattended, and a 15-round magazine limit applies no matter which firearm you’re carrying.
Handguns While You’re in the Car
Colorado’s concealed weapons statute makes it a class 1 misdemeanor to carry a concealed firearm on your person, but it carves out an exception for anyone in a private vehicle carrying a weapon for lawful protection while traveling.1Justia. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 18 – Section 18-12-105 No concealed handgun permit is required. No notification is required.
A handgun can be loaded, chambered, and stored just about anywhere inside the vehicle while you’re present. Glove box, center console, holster on your hip, under the seat — all legal. There’s no state rule about how it has to be positioned or contained while you’re in the car.
Rifles and Shotguns: Empty the Chamber
Long guns face a stricter rule under Colorado’s parks and wildlife code. You cannot have a rifle or shotgun in a motor vehicle with a round in the chamber.2Justia. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 33 – Section 33-6-125 – Possession of a Loaded Firearm in a Motor Vehicle A loaded magazine is fine. The chamber must be empty. A peace officer can inspect the chamber of any rifle or shotgun in your vehicle to check. Violating this is a misdemeanor carrying a $100 fine and fifteen license suspension points.
When You Leave the Car Unattended
A separate storage law that took effect in 2024 kicks in the moment you step away from the vehicle and leave a firearm behind. The requirements differ by firearm type.
A handgun left in an unattended vehicle must sit inside a locked hard-sided container, out of plain view, in a locked vehicle. A locked glove compartment or locked center console counts as a hard-sided container.3Justia. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 18 – Section 18-12-114.5 – Secure Firearm Storage in a Vehicle
A rifle or shotgun can go in either a locked hard-sided container or a soft-sided case. If you use a soft case, you also have to install a locking device (a cable lock or trigger lock) on the firearm itself.3Justia. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 18 – Section 18-12-114.5 – Secure Firearm Storage in a Vehicle
Failing to store a firearm properly in an unattended vehicle is a civil infraction rather than a criminal charge, but it can still bring a fine.
The 15-Round Magazine Limit
Since 2013, Colorado has banned the sale, transfer, and possession of magazines that hold more than fifteen rounds. Possessing one is a class 2 misdemeanor. If you’re caught with a large-capacity magazine while committing a felony or violent crime, the charge climbs to a class 6 felony.4Justia. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 18 – Section 18-12-302
There’s a grandfather clause. If you owned a magazine over fifteen rounds before July 1, 2013, and have kept continuous possession, you can legally keep it. The prosecution has the burden to disprove that if you raise it.4Justia. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 18 – Section 18-12-302 Moved to Colorado after 2013? Bought a firearm with a factory 17-round magazine? The grandfather clause won’t help you. This catches out-of-state visitors and new residents more often than most people realize.
Who Cannot Carry a Firearm in a Car
The vehicle carry exception only protects people who can legally possess a firearm to begin with. Several categories of people are barred from having any firearm anywhere, cars included.
Felony Convictions
Colorado prohibits people convicted of certain felonies from possessing firearms. A 2021 change narrowed the state prohibition to felonies covered under the Victims Rights Act, including murder, robbery, and felony assault.5Justia. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 18 – Section 18-12-108 – Possession of Weapons by Previous Offenders A violation is a class 5 felony, and using or threatening to use the weapon during another crime brings a mandatory prison sentence with no probation.
Even if a felony conviction falls outside Colorado’s state prohibition, federal law bars all convicted felons from possessing firearms or ammunition, with no expiration date.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
Domestic Violence Convictions and Orders
A conviction for a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence bars firearm possession under both Colorado and federal law. Being subject to a qualifying domestic violence protection order does the same.5Justia. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 18 – Section 18-12-108 – Possession of Weapons by Previous Offenders
Marijuana Users
This is where Colorado residents trip themselves up. Marijuana is legal under Colorado law but remains a federally controlled substance. Federal law prohibits anyone who is “an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance” from possessing a firearm or ammunition.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts Because marijuana is still a Schedule I drug federally, regular marijuana users are technically prohibited from owning or carrying any firearm, even in a state where marijuana is legal, and even inside their own car. The question appears on ATF Form 4473 every time you buy a firearm from a licensed dealer.
Minors
Colorado prohibits anyone under 18 from possessing a handgun. There is no similar state-level prohibition on minors possessing rifles or shotguns, though federal law restricts licensed dealers from selling long guns to anyone under 18 and handguns to anyone under 21.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts A 19-year-old can legally carry a handgun in their car under Colorado law. A 17-year-old cannot.
Extreme Risk Protection Orders
Colorado’s red flag law lets family members, certain health care workers, and government agencies petition a court for an Extreme Risk Protection Order when someone poses a risk of harm. An ERPO temporarily removes access to firearms.7Colorado Judicial Branch. Extreme Risk Protection Order Forms While the order is in force, possessing any firearm, including one in your vehicle, is unlawful.
Where the Vehicle Rules Change
Even when you’re legally carrying, some locations impose stricter rules or outright bans.
Schools
The federal Gun-Free School Zones Act makes it illegal to possess a firearm within a school zone, which includes K-12 grounds. An exception allows an unloaded firearm stored in a locked container or locked firearms rack inside a motor vehicle.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts Colorado Concealed Handgun Permit holders get a broader exception: they can keep a handgun in a locked vehicle on school property as long as it’s stored to the unattended vehicle rules.8Justia. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 18 – Section 18-12-214 – Authority Granted by Permit
Post Offices
Federal regulations prohibit firearms on postal property, including the parking lot. Open carry, concealed carry, and storing a firearm in your parked car at the post office are all prohibited.9eCFR. 39 CFR 232.1 – Conduct on Postal Property No state permit overrides this.
Airports
Federal regulations prohibit weapons in airport sterile areas, meaning anywhere past the TSA checkpoint.10eCFR. 49 CFR 1540.111 – Carriage of Weapons, Explosives, and Incendiaries by Individuals A firearm in your vehicle in the parking structure is generally fine. Bringing it into the terminal past security is not.
National Parks and Federal Buildings
You can carry a firearm in Colorado’s national parks as long as you follow Colorado state law, so the vehicle carry rules above apply on park roads and in parking areas. Federal law still bans firearms inside National Park Service buildings such as visitor centers and ranger stations, and inside other federal buildings like courthouses.11National Park Service. Firearms in National Parks
Traffic Stops
Colorado does not require you to proactively tell an officer that you have a firearm in your vehicle during a traffic stop. Some states impose that duty. Colorado does not. If an officer asks directly, that’s different, but you have no obligation to volunteer the information unprompted.
Crossing State Lines
Colorado’s relaxed vehicle carry rules end at the state line. If you’re driving to another state or passing through Colorado from elsewhere, the federal Firearms Owners’ Protection Act provides a safe-passage rule while you transport a firearm between two places where you can legally possess it. The firearm must be unloaded, and neither the gun nor any ammunition can be readily accessible from the passenger compartment.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 926A – Interstate Transportation of Firearms
If your vehicle has a separate trunk, that’s where the firearm and ammunition go. If it doesn’t (SUVs, trucks, hatchbacks), the firearm has to be in a locked container that is not the glove compartment or center console.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 926A – Interstate Transportation of Firearms The safe-passage protection only applies when you’re genuinely passing through, not stopping overnight or running errands.
Once You Step Out of the Car
Colorado state law preempts local governments from restricting your ability to travel with a firearm in a private vehicle. No city or county can make it illegal to drive through their jurisdiction with a lawfully possessed firearm in your car.13Justia. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 18 – Section 18-12-105.6 – Limitation on Local Ordinances Regarding Firearms
The preemption only covers firearms in vehicles. Local governments can still regulate carrying firearms in public places outside the vehicle. Denver, for example, bans the open carrying of firearms within city limits. Step out of your car in Denver with a rifle slung over your shoulder and that’s a local violation, even though the same rifle inside your locked vehicle was perfectly legal a minute earlier. The distinction between “in the car” and “out of the car” is where most people get themselves in trouble.