Colorado Gun Laws: Ownership, Carry, and Storage

Colorado gun laws set a minimum purchase age of 21, require a background check on every firearm transfer (including private sales), impose a three-day waiting period before delivery, and cap magazines at 15 rounds. Open carry is legal without a permit, but concealed carry requires a permit from your county sheriff. A new restriction on certain semiautomatic firearms takes effect August 1, 2026.

Who Can Buy and Own a Firearm

Two age rules trip people up. You can possess a firearm at 18, but you cannot purchase one until you turn 21, whether the seller is a licensed dealer or a private party.¹ Active-duty military and law enforcement officers are exempt from the purchase age.

Beyond age, several criminal and civil histories disqualify you from possessing a firearm at all. Any felony conviction is disqualifying. So is a misdemeanor domestic violence conviction. Colorado also added several other misdemeanors to the list for offenses committed on or after June 19, 2021, including third-degree assault, violation of a protection order, unlawful sexual contact, and child abuse.² Federal law layers on more categories: anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than a year in prison, unlawful drug users, and anyone involuntarily committed to a mental health facility.

Extreme Risk Protection Orders

Colorado’s red flag law lets family members, household members, law enforcement, and certain other parties petition a court for an Extreme Risk Protection Order. If a judge finds the person poses a significant danger to themselves or others, the court can order any firearms temporarily surrendered. Possessing a firearm while subject to one of these orders is a Class 2 misdemeanor, punishable by up to 120 days in jail and up to $750.³⁴

Background Checks and Waiting Period

Every firearm transfer in Colorado goes through a background check. There is no exception for private sales. If you sell a gun to another person, you must route the transaction through a licensed dealer, who submits the check to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. The buyer cannot take the gun until CBI approves the transfer.⁵ Skipping the process on a private sale is a Class 1 misdemeanor, carrying up to 18 months in jail and up to $5,000 in fines.⁴

On top of the check, Colorado imposes a three-day waiting period before a dealer can hand over a firearm. The clock starts when the dealer initiates the background check. If the check itself takes longer than three days, delivery waits until the check clears.⁶ A dealer who releases a firearm early faces a $500 civil fine for a first violation and $500 to $5,000 for later ones.⁷

Narrow exemptions apply to antique firearms, curios and relics, sales to military personnel deploying outside the U.S. within 30 days, and transfers already exempt from background check requirements.⁷

Equipment Restrictions

Magazine Capacity

Colorado prohibits selling, transferring, or possessing any magazine that holds more than 15 rounds. For shotguns, the limit is a fixed tubular magazine longer than 28 inches of shells, or a detachable magazine holding more than eight shells when combined with a fixed magazine.⁸ A first offense is a Class 2 misdemeanor. Possessing a large-capacity magazine during a felony or violent crime elevates the charge to a Class 6 felony, carrying one to 18 months in prison.⁹

A grandfather clause covers magazines owned before July 1, 2013, and continuously possessed since. Those can be kept but not sold or transferred.⁹

Ghost Guns

Colorado bans the possession, purchase, and manufacture of firearms without serial numbers, including 3D-printed weapons. If you already own one, you must take it to a licensed dealer to have a serial number engraved. Possessing a ghost gun is a Class 1 misdemeanor on a first offense and a Class 5 felony on any later violation.¹⁰

Semiautomatic Firearm Rule Effective August 2026

Starting August 1, 2026, Colorado will restrict the sale and purchase of “specified semiautomatic firearms,” defined as semiautomatic rifles or shotguns with a detachable magazine, and gas-operated semiautomatic handguns with a detachable magazine. The law does not ban possession of guns you already own. It prohibits manufacturing, selling, transferring, or purchasing these weapons unless the buyer has completed an approved firearms safety or hunter education course specified by the statute. Violations are a Class 2 misdemeanor first, Class 6 felony after. The same law classifies any device that increases a semiautomatic’s rate of fire as a dangerous weapon.¹¹

Storage and Reporting

It is a crime in Colorado to store a firearm irresponsibly if you know, or should know, that a child could access it without permission or that someone in your home is prohibited from possessing firearms. This is a Class 2 misdemeanor. Licensed dealers must also include a locking device with every firearm sold; skipping the lock is a misdemeanor with a fine up to $500.¹²

If a firearm is lost or stolen, you have five days from discovery to report it to law enforcement. A family or household member can file the report on your behalf. A first failure is a civil infraction with a $25 fine; a second failure becomes a misdemeanor with fines up to $500.¹³

Carrying in Public

Open Carry

Open carry is legal without a permit if you can legally possess a firearm. But Colorado repealed its statewide preemption law in 2021, and cities and counties can now pass their own ordinances restricting or banning open carry.¹⁴ Several municipalities have adopted restrictions, so check local rules before carrying openly in an unfamiliar area.

Concealed Carry

Carrying a concealed firearm without a permit is a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by six to 18 months in jail and $500 to $5,000 in fines.¹⁵⁴ Colorado is a shall-issue state: the county sheriff must issue a permit to any applicant who meets the statutory requirements.¹⁶ Local governments can still restrict where concealed carry is allowed, even with a valid permit.

To qualify for a permit, you must be at least 21, a Colorado resident, and not otherwise prohibited from possessing a firearm. The statute also disqualifies people who habitually use alcohol to the point of impairment, unlawful drug users, and anyone currently subject to a protection order or extreme risk protection order.¹⁶ Active-duty military stationed in Colorado and their immediate family count as residents for permit purposes.

Applicants apply in person at the county sheriff’s office, submit to fingerprinting and a state and federal background check, and complete an approved training course. As of July 1, 2025, the training requirements tightened: new applicants need at least eight hours of in-person instruction, a written test with a minimum 80% score, and a live-fire exercise with at least 70% accuracy. No portion of the course can run online. Training certificates are valid for one year for new applicants and six months for renewals.¹⁷ Active-duty military and those honorably discharged within the past three years can substitute military documentation, and organized shooting competitions also qualify.¹⁶

Once issued, a permit is valid for five years. Renewal requires at least a two-hour refresher course with its own live-fire and written components.¹⁸

Out-of-State Permits

Colorado honors concealed carry permits from other states only if the other state also recognizes Colorado permits, you are a resident of the state that issued your permit, you are at least 21, and you carry both the permit and a matching state-issued ID. Colorado does not honor permits issued to non-residents of the issuing state.¹⁹

Where Firearms Are Prohibited

Certain locations are off-limits regardless of whether you hold a concealed handgun permit. State legislative buildings, local government buildings where elected officials have offices, courthouses, and other buildings used for court proceedings are all restricted, and the prohibition extends to adjacent parking areas. Carrying a firearm in these places is a Class 1 misdemeanor.²⁰

Firearms are also prohibited on K-12 school grounds and on public college and university campuses. Permit holders may carry in college parking areas but not inside campus buildings.²⁰ Private property owners and businesses can prohibit firearms on their premises. If you carry into a business that posts a no-weapons policy, you can be asked to leave and face trespassing charges if you refuse.

Self-Defense and Use of Force

Colorado allows physical force to defend yourself or another person when you reasonably believe someone is about to use unlawful force against you. The force must be proportional. Deadly force is justified only when you reasonably believe a lesser degree of force would not be enough and you face imminent danger of being killed or suffering serious bodily injury.²¹ Colorado imposes no statutory duty to retreat before defending yourself, even if retreat is possible.

The Make My Day Law

Inside your home, the threshold for deadly force drops. Under Colorado’s Make My Day law, an occupant of a dwelling may use any degree of force, including deadly force, against someone who has made an unlawful entry, if the occupant reasonably believes the intruder has committed or intends to commit any crime beyond the uninvited entry itself, and reasonably believes the intruder might use even slight physical force against anyone inside.²²

An occupant who acts under these conditions is immune from both criminal prosecution and civil lawsuits over the resulting injury or death. The law defines “dwelling” broadly but excludes any place of habitation inside a detention facility. It does not protect someone who provoked the confrontation or who is trespassing on someone else’s property.²²

1
Colorado General Assembly. SB23-169 Increasing Minimum Age To Purchase Firearms
2
Colorado Bureau of Investigation. State and Federal Firearm Prohibitors
3
FindLaw. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 13 Section 13-14.5-111
4
Justia Law. Colorado Code 18-1.3-501 – Misdemeanors Classified – Penalties
5
Colorado Bureau of Investigation. Colorado Code 18-12-112 – Private Firearms Transfers – Background Check Required
6
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Obtaining, Possessing and Selling Firearms
7
Colorado General Assembly. HB23-1219 Waiting Period To Deliver A Firearm
8
FindLaw. Colorado Revised Statutes Title 18 Section 18-12-301
9
Justia Law. Colorado Code 18-12-302 – Large-Capacity Magazines Prohibited – Penalties – Exceptions
10
Colorado General Assembly. SB23-279 Concerning Prohibited Activity Related to Firearms
11
Colorado General Assembly. SB25-003 Semiautomatic Firearms and Rapid-Fire Devices
12
Colorado General Assembly. HB21-1106 Safe Storage Of Firearms
13
Colorado General Assembly. SB21-078 Lost Or Stolen Firearms
14
Colorado General Assembly. SB21-256 Local Regulation Of Firearms
15
Justia Law. Colorado Code 18-12-105 – Unlawfully Carrying a Concealed Weapon
16
Justia Law. Colorado Code 18-12-203 – Criteria for Obtaining a Permit
17
Larimer County. New Colorado Law Changes Concealed Handgun Permit Process
18
Colorado Bureau of Investigation. Concealed Handgun Permit (CHP)
19
Colorado Bureau of Investigation. Concealed Handgun Permit (CHP) Reciprocity
20
Colorado General Assembly. SB24-131 Prohibiting Carrying Firearms in Sensitive Spaces
21
Justia Law. Colorado Code 18-1-704 – Use of Physical Force in Defense of a Person
22
Justia Law. Colorado Code 18-1-704.5 – Use of Deadly Physical Force Against an Intruder