Colorado's Second Amendment deserts keep getting drier

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Squeezing out gun sellers

... Statewide, FFL’s fell by 18 percent from 2021 to 2026, with Denver (hardly a gun rights friendly city) leading the three cities I checked with an astounding 58% drop in FFL’s over that same time period. If the arrow continues to point this way, it will at the very least get even harder for law-abiding Coloradans to find a dealer...

I had a lot of comments from people saying they let their license go because they were tired of dealing with burdens on the firearm business in Colorado.

FFL’s occupy a unique niche. On the one hand they are businesses like any other. On the other, they sell products and provide services that intersect with constitutional rights. The Second Amendment, and what it protects, were deemed important enough to have been spelled out explicitly both in our state and federal constitutions. You have a right to keep and bear arms (the ability to purchase same being an integral part of that right), but no right to keep and bear fresh produce, or get on a bus.

Restricting rights

... Since 2013, any new commercial purchases, private transfers, or sales of a firearm require a background check done by an FFL.  There has also been talk at the capitol of requiring a background check for ammunition...

Law-abiding citizens (the only ones, let’s be honest, that are saddled with the burden) face an undue hardship when trying to exercise their rights because for many the nearest FFL is miles away. Witnesses and advocates also talk about how continued over-regulation of FFL’s is driving them to quit the business, to let their licenses drop... Colorado is quickly drying up into a Second Amendment desert, and it’s not by accident.

... if the government gets away with nibbling a right out of existence, you might find they migrate to others when they’re done.