DENVER — DENVER — Lawmakers and lobbyists were back at the Colorado State Capitol on Wednesday for the first day of the 2025 legislative session. Senate Democrats wasted no time introducing a bill they believe will save lives, but one that's set to face a fierce fight from opponents.
Senate Bill 25-003 aims to ban the manufacture, distribution, transfer, sale, or purchase of a "specified semiautomatic firearm," which includes semiautomatic rifles and shotguns, along with gas-operated semiautomatic handguns that have a detachable ammunition magazine.
Under the bill, a semiautomatic gun with a detachable magazine could still be transferred to an heir, someone in another state, or a federally licensed firearm dealer.
If the bill became law, violations would be considered a misdemeanor offense. A second violation escalates to a felony charge.
SB25-003 also prohibits the possession of a dangerous weapon, a category that includes rapid-fire devices.
“This is now a priority," State Senator Tom Sullivan, District 27 — D, said about gun violence prevention.
Sullivan is a sponsor of the bill, which he believes targets illegal high-capacity magazines in Colorado. A 2013 state law banned the sale of detachable magazines that hold more than 15 rounds of ammunition.
The ban on magazines with more than 15 rounds was implemented the year after 12 people were killed during a mass shooting at an Aurora movie theater. Sullivan's son was one of the victims.
"I make sure that people know that," Sullivan said. "I make sure that the people down at the Capitol don't forget that... This is the 650th Friday since he was murdered, and I let them know that.”
Even though magazines with more than 15 rounds are illegal in Colorado, Sullivan said they are still far too accessible.
"The gun industry continued to send in high-capacity magazines here into the state of Colorado, even though legally you cannot purchase brand new ones anymore," Sullivan claimed. “We haven't gotten the buy-in, you know, from the opposition to this, even though our court system says this is illegal and that you can't purchase a brand new high-capacity magazine.”
Sullivan said the bill would create an entirely new model in Colorado — one that no other state has done before.
“We're not banning any type of firearm. They're still going to be able to buy all the same kinds of firearms that they were able to buy before. Just that, if it takes a magazine, the magazine must be attached, and the magazine can only be a 15-round," said Sullivan. “That's what has put the mass into mass shootings is the high-capacity magazines. The easy ability to drop one magazine and put another magazine in there and just continue to fire.”
According to Sullivan, guns already in Colorado with detachable magazines would be grandfathered in, meaning the ban would only apply to firearms sold in the state after the bill became law.
The bill is already being met with backlash.
Ian Escalante is the executive director of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners (RMGO), a lobbying organization that focuses on Second Amendment rights in Colorado, specifically when it comes to the legislature, courts, and elections. After the first day of the 2025 legislative session, Escalante said one thing is clear — Democrats are "not messing around on the gun issue."
“The big difference between this year and last year is that they're not calling it an assault weapons ban. They're trying to convince people that it's something different from what they've been pushing for the last two years when in reality, it's actually a couple steps more extreme than the measures that died both in 2023 and last year," Escalante said. “The manufacturers would have to completely redesign the firearm. Okay? That is going to jack the retail price or the wholesale price through the roof.”
The bill text states that, if passed, the ban would take effect on September 1, 2025. Escalante said that would not be enough time for gun retailers to access firearms with fixed magazines.
"What's going to happen is there's going to be a huge freeze of guns coming to Colorado," said Escalante. “It is going to be a very heavy lift [for retail stores]. And by the time this becomes possible, if it even is possible, there's not going to be many retail stores left.”
Escalante estimates that around 85% of guns sold in Colorado have detachable magazines. He said this bill, along with the new voter-approved 6.5% excise tax on gun manufacturers, gun retail stores, and ammunition vendors, would be suffocating for the industry.
“I mean, it's common sense. What do you think is going to happen to the firearms industry here? And it's definitely deliberate. This isn't an accident. This is deliberate," said Escalante. “It's not about the enforcement of the so-called high-capacity magazine ban. What it is about is about getting firearms off the streets, trying to limit the amount of people buying firearms in the state of Colorado, and eventually drive the pro-gun voting base and the firearms industry out of the state.”
Escalante promised that RMGO would fight this bill as it moves through the Colorado State Capitol.
Sullivan hopes to get SB 25-003 into committee in the next few weeks and wants to see it on the Senate floor by February before it moves to the Colorado House of Representatives.
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