Colorado Officials Face Lawsuit Over Gun Law’s Permit-to-Purchase Provision

Several residents and a public-interest law firm sued Colorado’s governor and other state officials on Sept. 2 over the requirement for a permit to buy a gun set to begin on Aug. 1, 2026.

The plaintiffs say the state’s gun control law, signed by Colorado Gov. Jared Polis in April, requires a state permit to purchase a gun. They claim that the provision discourages gun ownership through difficult and time-consuming background checks, training and testing requirements, and added fees.

They say the law turns a constitutional right into a pay-to-play arrangement. They hope to stop the law before it is implemented.

The plaintiffs claim that Senate Bill 25-003—Concerning the Prohibition of Certain Semiautomatic Firearms and Rapid-Fire Devices—adds burdensome fees and other requirements that will violate the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

“A government that makes you ask permission to buy a firearm isn’t protecting your rights—it’s trampling them,” Ray Elliott, Colorado State Shooting Association president, said in a statement released the day the lawsuit was filed.

“We believe the courts will see this law for what it is: a blatant infringement of our Second Amendment freedoms.”

The law requires a background check, state-approved training, a 90 percent score on a written exam, and approval by the sheriff in the county where the applicant lives to receive a purchase permit.

According to the plaintiffs, the law sets a higher standard for civilians than that set for law enforcement officers, who must pass their exam with a minimum score of 70 percent.

The lawsuit claims that the law also makes the applicant liable for “processing and card fees.”

This violates the standard set by the U.S. Supreme Court in its June 2022 decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, the lawsuit states.

In that decision, the high court ruled that a law must comport with a plain reading of the Second Amendment and have an analogous law from the time of the Second Amendment’s ratification.

“Because the Act attempts to govern and regulate arms-bearing conduct, the text of the Second Amendment is implicated, and there is no relevantly similar historical analogue from the time of the Founding that can be used to justify the Act’s provisions,” the lawsuit reads.

In April, state Sen. Tom Sullivan, a Democrat, said concerns about the law’s constitutionality were overblown.

He said the main thrust of the law is to require semiautomatic rifles to have magazines that are permanently affixed and hold 10 or fewer rounds. He pointed out that other states have permit-to-purchase requirements.

According to the World Population Review website, those states are California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Minnesota.

“I’ve been on record for several years and made it very clear that I do not support an ‘assault weapons’ ban,” Sullivan told The Epoch Times in April. “You can still have all the features the present [AR-15-style rifle] has, except the magazine will be attached.”

Sullivan said he and the other law’s sponsors crafted the legislation to ensure that it respects the right to keep and bear arms. He said the law is meant to control semiautomatic rifles—some of which are called “assault rifles”—and “high-capacity magazines.”

The terms “assault rifle” and “high-capacity magazines” are commonly used but have not been clearly defined.

Sullivan did not respond by publication time to an email request for comment.

In April, Polis issued a statement saying the permit-to-purchase provision prevents the law from being a gun ban.

“This law is not a ban, and I have been clear that I oppose banning types of firearms,” the statement reads. “I am confident that this bill, as passed, contributes to improving public safety in our state by helping to ensure an educated and trained gun owner community, including on topics such as gun safety and safe storage.”

Polis wrote that his goal is to make Colorado “one of the top ten safest states in the country.”

Polis’s office did not respond by publication time to a request for comment.