DENVER — A new Colorado law in effect Aug. 1 now requires residents to obtain an eligibility card from their local sheriff and complete an in-person firearms safety course to purchase certain semi-automatic firearms with detachable magazines.
To buy the specified firearms in Colorado, residents must first obtain approval from their local sheriff's office through a background check. Once approved, they must complete a mandatory firearms safety course, which is either four hours or 12 hours, depending on whether they hold prior hunter safety certification.
Those who purchase the same firearms with fixed, attached magazines are not subject to the new requirements.
Denver7 reporter Maggie Bryan spoke to gun rights advocates and legislators to get their perspective on this new law in the video player below:
State Sen. Tom Sullivan, a Democrat representing Arapahoe and Douglas counties, sponsored the legislation, commonly called Senate Bill 3. He said the law was a direct response to years of failed enforcement of Colorado's existing ban on high-capacity magazines that hold more than 15 rounds, which passed in 2013.
"Gun dealers are not stopping selling them, they are still selling them," said Sullivan. "The sheriffs couldn't be bothered to go and enforce that piece of legislation. They [gun dealers] were still selling high-capacity magazines at gun shows."
Sullivan's son, Alex, was killed in the Aurora Theater shooting in 2012. Police said the shooter used a semi-automatic rifle equipped with a 100-round drum magazine. Sullivan described the new law as an attempt to make high-capacity magazines obsolete.
"There is nowhere that says anybody needs a high capacity magazine to defend themselves and protect their families," Sullivan said.
Detractors believe the law goes too far
The new law has been met with push back from staunch gun rights advocates, including Alicia Garcia, a firearms safety instructor with Concealed Carry Classes of Denver. She said the business will soon offer the new state-created Senate Bill 3 training course, but said the mandates go too far.
"I believe training is essential. We should prioritize it. I just do not think that it should be force mandated," said Garcia. "Are we also going to now start mandating people to take courses to freedom of speech?"
According to a course outline from Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the agency developing the curriculum, the class will cover ammunition, shooting basics, range safety and etiquette, cleaning and maintenance, ownership and transfer laws, secure storage, child safety, firearm deaths and unintentional discharge. The course does not include a live-fire portion.
Garcia argued that the people most likely to cause harm will not comply with the new requirements, leaving law-abiding gun owners to bear the burden.
"Who are the people that want to create harm? Criminals, violent offenders. Do they follow laws? Are they going to sign up for my class?" Garcia said. "We don't carry guns because we intend harm. We carry guns because we intend to get home tonight. We have intent to protect and defend."
Sullivan said he has concerns about whether the new law will face the same enforcement challenges as the 2013 magazine ban.
"We've got 50-plus Second Amendment sanctuary counties here in the state. They boast about that. We've got sheriffs who show up on channels like yours talking about the legislation that we passed being feckless, that it doesn't matter, and they're not going to do anything about it. I mean, that's what we're up against," Sullivan said. "If they had just enforced the law, we wouldn't have to go down this road, but we're up against it. We got to do something."
Sullivan acknowledged that measuring the law's impact may be difficult.
"Most of the results we won't know about. Someone's life will be saved, and you'll never know those names. That's how this works. But I'm confident that if we can keep the high-capacity magazines from being sold and put into the wrong hands, that we will be making a difference, and that's what I think something like this legislation will do," Sullivan said.
Already, the Montezuma County sheriff said his office will not participate in the new gun law, citing funding, staffing and constitutional concerns.
“As a Colorado Sheriff, and every member of the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office, each of us has sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Colorado, and perform the duties of the Office of Sheriff in Colorado by protecting those rights for all citizens in Montezuma County,” Montezuma County Sheriff Steven Nowlin said in a news release.
Nowlin said county residents would be directed to CPW or participating Colorado sheriff's offices regarding the firearms safety course eligibility cards process.
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation reported Monday that its InstaCheck Unit processed a record number of firearm background checks in July, ahead of the new law.
