Colorado's 2026 regulation changes are a mixed bag — some additions, some closures, and at least one that has nothing to do with seasons but will absolutely affect your gun purchases later this year.

"Starting August 1, 2026, Colorado requires completion of a firearms safety course before purchasing or transferring a Specified Semiautomatic Firearm (SSF)."

This is the kind of thing that'll blindside someone mid-transaction at an FFL. You show up expecting a same-day transfer, your dealer runs the paperwork, and then the conversation gets awkward. If you're in Colorado and eyeing a semi-auto purchase in the back half of 2026, call your dealer before you drive across town and ask whether your specific firearm triggers this requirement. Don't assume it doesn't.

"The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission approved a regulation change that eliminates OTC bull elk hunting licenses in the Gunnison Basin. You now have to apply for a license to hunt bulls there."

Anyone who's built a multi-year hunting plan around Gunnison Basin access just had their math scrambled. OTC availability was a fallback option — now it's a draw like everything else. If that basin was your Plan B, you're currently without one.

"For elk: CPW is requiring mandatory submission of CWD test samples — specifically the heads — from all elk harvested during rifle seasons in specific hunt codes. Missing that requirement isn't a paperwork inconvenience — it's a regulatory violation."

The asymmetry here — no mandatory testing for deer, mandatory head submission for certain elk rifle codes — is exactly the kind of split rule that gets hunters in trouble. Pull your specific hunt code and verify before your season opens, not after you've already packed out.

For anyone who's hunted Colorado elk recently — have you run into much variance in how CPW field personnel are handling CWD submission compliance at check stations, or is enforcement pretty consistent unit to unit?

Read the full article in The Handbook → | By The Boise Gun Club Team