Colorado bill on semiautomatics heads to Governor’s desk

DENVER, Colo. (KRDO) - The Senate has passed SB25-003, a bill that puts stricter regulations on access to semiautomatic weapons. The bill now heads to Governor Polis.

The bill applies to semiautomatic rifles or semiautomatic shotguns with detachable magazines,
or gas-operated semiautomatic handguns with detachable magazines.

If signed into law, those who want to own those types of guns must go through a firearm safety course every five years.

"There are no other rights that are constitutionally protected in our Bill of Rights in which we have to ask the government for permission to practice," said Leland Conway, the Rocky Mountain District Manager for Delta Defense, in a previous interview with KRDO13. "We don't have to get permission, or take a class, to go and speak our mind [through] freedom of speech, or freedom of religion, or freedom of the press. We just get to do that because we're Americans, and that's guaranteed."

Meanwhile, some democrats call this a "win" for gun safety.

“This legislation is another in the list of policies I have worked on to develop evidence-based solutions and reduce gun violence of all types. The people of Colorado have mandated that we do something about the public health crisis that is gun violence, so that’s what we’re going to do," said Senator Sullivan in a previous press release.