Colorado Bill Targets Semiauto Rifles

Colorado Democrats are pushing a semiautomatic firearms ban so broad that opponents say no compliant versions of the targeted guns currently exist on the market.

Driving the news: Senate Bill 3 would prohibit the manufacture, sale, and purchase of semiautomatic rifles and shotguns capable of accepting detachable magazines — chambered above .22 caliber — plus certain gas-operated semiautomatic pistols. It awaits its first committee hearing at the Capitol.

What gets banned:

• AR- and AK-platform rifles — the AR-15, Colt M4 Carbine, Ruger AR-556, Smith & Wesson M&P15, AK-47 variants including the Arsenal SAM7 and Zastava ZPAP M70
• Gas-operated pistols — AR- and AK-style pistols, plus the Century Arms Draco, CMMG Banshee, Sig Sauer MPX Copperhead, and others
• Some standard handguns — the Desert Eagle, Walther CCP, and Smith & Wesson M&P 5.7 fall under the gas-operated pistol prohibition

What doesn't get banned: Slide- and recoil-operated semiautomatic pistols — which is most of them. Your Glock 19, Sig P365, Beretta 92, Springfield Hellcat, and Smith & Wesson M&P9 are untouched. Bolt-action, lever-action, pump, and slide-action firearms are also exempt. Existing lawfully owned firearms cannot be confiscated — only sold or transferred in-state going forward.

Reality check: The bill allows covered guns to be sold with a permanently fixed magazine — welded, epoxied, or soldered — limited to 15 rounds. The problem: gun manufacturers don't currently make semiautomatic rifles or shotguns that way. Conversion kits used in California and New York wouldn't work here either; the bill specifically closes that loophole by requiring that removing the magazine render the gun incapable of accepting any magazine at all. Opponents argue that makes the ban effectively total for new sales of the covered platforms.

Between the lines: Colorado's existing 15-round magazine cap already restricts standard-capacity mags. SB3 layers a fixed-magazine requirement on top of that, but since no manufacturer builds AR- or AK-pattern rifles with welded-in magazines, the practical effect is that these guns simply disappear from Colorado gun stores if the bill passes.

The out-of-state angle is worth noting. Federal law requires gun dealers to comply with the purchaser's home state laws. A Wyoming gun store couldn't sell a Colorado resident a noncompliant rifle. However, someone who legally bought a covered firearm in another state before moving to Colorado would not be in violation.

Penalties are real but graduated. First offense: Class 2 misdemeanor, up to 120 days and $750. Second offense: Class 6 felony, up to 18 months and $100,000. A dealing violation triggers license revocation and a five-year firearms purchase ban — or permanent prohibition if convicted of the felony.

One more thing: The bill would also ban rapid-fire trigger devices including bump stocks statewide, classifying them as dangerous weapons — a Class 5 felony, up to three years.

What's next: If signed, SB3 takes effect September 1. The first committee hearing hasn't been scheduled yet. Gun rights organizations are expected to challenge the measure in court if it passes, citing Bruen's historical tradition standard.