DENVER — The Colorado State Shooting Association filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday over a state law that will restrict access to certain kinds of semiautomatic weapons.
Senate Bill 25-003 was signed into law by Governor Jared Polis on April 10 and is set to take effect in August 2026.
In its original form, SB25-003 would have outright banned the manufacture, distribution, transfer, sale, or purchase of a "specified semiautomatic firearm," which includes semiautomatic rifles and shotguns, as well as gas-operated semiautomatic handguns with a detachable ammunition magazine. However, in February, Colorado Senate Democrats amended the bill so that those guns could still be sold if a buyer first takes a training course.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday by the Colorado State Shooting Association (CSSA) and six individuals and aims to challenge the constitutionality of the law. It names Colorado Governor Jared Polis, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and 4th Judicial District Attorney Michael J. Allen as defendants.
- Read the full lawsuit below
"[SB25-003] will not have the impact that the proponents were saying it would once it got signed into law. Once it got signed into law, we knew immediately that we had to start working for a solution to make sure this law did not go into effect," said Daniel Fenlason, the director of operations for CSSA. "That's where this lawsuit came from."
Fenlason told Denver7 he and the other plaintiffs believe the law makes the process of acquiring such a weapon difficult and time-consuming.
"How it actually looks for the everyday gun owner and person who wants to become a gun owner here in the state of Colorado, you have to first go get a background check, to then go to your sheriff's department to request permission to get a training card. Once you get that training card, you get added to a list that's semi-private, which we'll cover later, but you get added to a list of prospective gun owners. You take that training card, and at this point, you've paid for a background check, and you've paid for whatever the sheriff's department will cost to take your application for that background or for that training card," Fenlason said. "You take that training card to a qualified trainer. You go through an extensive training process over two days, 12 hours, plus a written exam that you have to pass with a 90% rate. You then take that training card and the passing of the training test to an FFL or gun dealer gun store, and with that, you present both of them; they'll run another background check on you, so that's another fee that you're paying there. Then you would have to wait three days to actually get your firearm because of the three-day waiting period here already in Colorado. So, we're talking about months to be able to get a firearm, and just to get to the point that you can purchase that firearm, you've already spent hundreds of dollars, if not more, just to get to that point."
Read our previous coverage of Senate Bill 25-003 below:
CO bill aims to ban sale, manufacture of semiauto guns with detachable magazines CO Senate committee advances bill seeking to ban certain semi-auto firearms Colorado bill banning certain semiautomatic weapons gets initial approval Controversial gun bill passes Colorado Senate, even as two initial sponsors flip Colorado semiautomatic gun restriction bill one step closer to becoming law Colorado Senate sends semiautomatic gun restriction bill to Gov. Polis' desk Polis signs watered-down semiautomatic gun restriction bill into law Colorado Republicans ask US AG to review semiautomatic gun restriction billColorado State Senator Tom Sullivan, who lost his son Alex in the Aurora theater shooting back in 2012, was one of the co-sponsors of the now law. He told Denver7 he wasn't surprised by the lawsuit.
"We have the backing of the people of the state of Colorado to do what it is we're doing, and that's why this legislation passed," Sullivan said. "And again, as I say, that's why I'm confident that it will not be impacted by whatever court proceedings they try to pull against it."
Denver7 reached out to the governor's office for a comment on the lawsuit. In a statement, a spokesperson for the governor said, "We are not going to comment on this pending litigation."
A spokesperson for the Colorado Attorney General's Office issued a similar statement, saying, "The attorney general’s office has no comment on this pending litigation."
In a statement, 4th Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen said his inclusion in the lawsuit is "misguided, ineffective, and tantamount to speculative lawfare." He called the law an "unconstitutional overreach by state government," but since he was named in the lawsuit under his official capacity as DA, "the El Paso County Attorney's Office will vigorously defend me and this office."
- Read the full statement below
This week, a lawsuit was filed by multiple plaintiffs in response to Colorado Senate Bill 25-003, which was signed into law by Governor Jared Polis in April of this year. It is set to go into full effect on August 1, 2026. The plaintiffs filed their lawsuit against several entities, including myself, in my role as District Attorney of the 4th Judicial District. While I applaud their efforts to challenge what I and many others believe to be an unconstitutional overreach by state government, including me in their lawsuit is misguided, ineffective, and tantamount to speculative lawfare. Because this lawsuit targets me in my official capacity as District Attorney, the El Paso County Attorney’s Office will vigorously defend me and this office.
By design, SB25-003 creates burdensome obstacles to lawful gun ownership, and its effects will be felt mostly by low-income and rural Coloradans.
I have consistently worked to safeguard all of our constitutionally protected rights, and the Second Amendment is no exception. Unfortunately, in Colorado, the Second Amendment has been under continuous attack by our legislature. SB25-003 punishes lawful gun owners - and it is only the most recent example of the state’s egregious efforts to disarm citizens. While proponents of the bill argue it will protect Coloradans against criminal activity, it is truly an unconstitutional infringement on our right to self-preservation.
Criminals do not abide by the law, and it is folly to believe they will care about the provisions of SB25-003.
