Colorado gun sales surge ahead of permit-to-purchase scheme

A record number of Coloradans got background checks to purchase guns last month ahead of the state’s new permit-to-purchase scheme for many commonly owned semi-automatic firearms, which officially took effect August 1.

Colorado’s InstaCheck Unit, which runs the background checks, processed 59,452 checks in July, a 195% increase from the 20,172 background checks the unit ran in July 2025...

Colorado’s majority Democrats passed Senate Bill 25-003 last year, establishing a permit-to-purchase scheme for many semi-automatic rifles, shotguns and handguns that take detachable magazines. The legislation, which Gov. Jared Polis signed into law in April 2025, began as an outright sales ban on semi-automatic firearms, but was amended to the permitting scheme.

Under the new law, the sale of numerous semi-automatic guns is banned unless a buyer applies for a “firearms safety course eligibility card” with their local sheriff’s office, pays associated fees, takes a state-approved course, and then passes an exam.

As previously reported by Complete Colorado, the law currently applies to approximately 900 firearm makes and models, many of them in the popular AR-15 platform, as decided by the Colorado Department of Revenue...

“This is an attack at the very core of what it means to be an American,” CSSA Executive Director Huey Laugesen said in a statement. “For generations, the fundamental premise has been that our rights belong to the people — they are not privileges handed down by the government. Beginning August 1, Colorado will turn that principle on its head.”

CSSA, along with Mountain States Legal Foundation, are suing in federal court over the law with the case Del Toro v. Polis.

At least one Colorado sheriff–in Montezuma County–has declined to participate in the permitting process, citing a lack of funding and staffing resources, as well as concerns over the constitutionality of the law.