Colorado’s ammo tax is a 6.5% state excise tax on the retail sale of ammunition, firearms, and firearm precursor parts, in effect since April 1, 2025. Voters approved it as Proposition KK in November 2024, and it applies on top of state and local sales tax and the federal excise tax that’s already built into the wholesale price. The revenue funds crime victim services, school security, and behavioral health programs.1Colorado Department of Revenue – Taxation. Firearms and Ammunition Tax
What Gets Taxed
The 6.5% applies to three categories sold at retail in Colorado. Ammunition covers finished cartridges and the individual components used to make them: cases, primers, bullets, and propellant powder designed for use in a firearm.2Justia Law. Colorado Code 39-37-103 – Definitions Reloaders pay the tax on each component bought separately.
Firearms are defined as in Colorado’s criminal code: any weapon designed to expel a projectile by explosive action. The third category, firearm precursor parts, is broader than most buyers expect. It reaches unfinished frames and receivers, fire control components, and devices designed to increase a firearm’s rate of fire, concealability, magazine capacity, or destructive capability.2Justia Law. Colorado Code 39-37-103 – Definitions Certain aftermarket accessories fall within the tax even though they aren’t firearms themselves.
What You’ll Actually Pay
The 6.5% is calculated on the base retail price, after excluding federal excise tax, sales or use tax, retail delivery fees, and other government taxes.1Colorado Department of Revenue – Taxation. Firearms and Ammunition Tax In practical terms:
- A $500 handgun: about $33 in state excise tax.
- A $1,000 rifle: $65.
- A $20 box of ammunition: $1.30.
Those numbers sit on top of your local sales tax and the federal firearms and ammunition excise tax that manufacturers already embed in the wholesale price: 10% on handguns and 11% on long guns and ammunition under the Pittman-Robertson Act.3Congress.gov. Firearms and Ammunition Excise Tax (FAET) Stacked together, the total tax load on a Colorado firearm purchase can easily exceed 20%.
The tax is legally levied on the vendor, but retailers pass it through at the register.4Justia Law. Colorado Code 39-37-104 – Excise Tax Levied
Buying Online or Out of State
Ordering from an out-of-state seller usually won’t get you around the tax. Colorado treats a remote vendor as doing business in the state, and therefore on the hook for the 6.5%, if its Colorado retail sales of firearms, ammunition, or precursor parts exceeded $20,000 in the prior calendar year.2Justia Law. Colorado Code 39-37-103 – Definitions The Department of Revenue has confirmed that when an out-of-state vendor makes the sale but ships to a local FFL for the background check, the out-of-state vendor owes the excise tax.5Colorado Department of Revenue. Firearms Ammunition FAQs
Sellers under the $20,000 Colorado threshold aren’t considered to be doing business in the state and don’t owe the tax. That threshold applies only to out-of-state vendors. A brick-and-mortar shop in Colorado with any level of sales still owes the tax because it maintains a physical location in the state.2Justia Law. Colorado Code 39-37-103 – Definitions
Who’s Exempt
The exemption list is short. Peace officers and law enforcement agencies don’t pay the tax on qualifying purchases, and neither do active duty members of the U.S. Armed Forces.6Justia Law. Colorado Code 39-37-105 – Exemptions The statute doesn’t extend the exemption to retired law enforcement, veterans, or National Guard members in a non-active-duty status.
Also not exempt: competitive shooters, shooting ranges buying inventory, and concealed carry permit holders. A civilian buying ammunition in Colorado pays the 6.5% regardless of intended use.
Where the Revenue Goes
The tax is projected to raise up to $39 million in its first full year.7Colorado General Assembly. Proposition KK: Firearms and Ammunition Excise Tax Revenue flows into the Firearms and Ammunition Excise Tax Cash Fund and is distributed by statute in this order:
- The first $35 million each year, adjusted for inflation, goes to the Colorado Crime Victim Services Fund for crisis response, counseling, legal advocacy, and emergency financial assistance.
- The next $10 million funds the School Security Disbursement Grant Program for emergency response training and safety-related construction at public schools.
- The next $10 million goes to the Behavioral and Mental Health Cash Fund, covering services for veterans and youth behavioral health crisis response.
- Anything left over returns to the Crime Victim Services Fund.8Colorado General Assembly. Colorado Code 39-37-301 – Firearms and Ammunition Excise Tax Cash Fund
The Lawsuit Challenging It
The tax was sued on Second Amendment grounds the day before it took effect. On March 31, 2025, a coalition including the National Rifle Association, Firearms Policy Coalition, Second Amendment Foundation, and Colorado State Shooting Association filed suit in Denver County District Court, asking the court to permanently block collection.9NRA-PVF. Langston v. Humphreys – Complaint
The tax remains in effect while the case proceeds. Federal firearms licensees are expected to keep collecting and remitting it unless a court orders otherwise, since the ATF requires FFLs to comply with applicable state laws as a condition of their federal license.10Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Federal Firearms Licensee Quick Reference and Best Practices Guide Until a ruling changes that, the 6.5% is what Colorado buyers pay.