In an unprecedented move, Republican elected officials in the Colorado State House have signed a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, calling on her to conduct a federal review of a controversial new law restricting semiautomatic firearms.
Gun rights in the Rocky Mountain State, which have been eroding rapidly over the last 15 years, took another beating after Gov. Jared Polis (D) signed Senate Bill 25-003 into law on April 10, 2025. One of the strictest gun control measures in state history, SB 25-003 prohibits the manufacture and severely restricts the sale and purchase of most semiautomatic rifles, tactical shotguns, and several handguns that accept detachable magazines.
The law is set to go into effect in August 2026. It requires Coloradans looking to buy these firearms to undergo 12 hours of safety training, pass a background check, and obtain approval from their county sheriff. Furthermore, rapid-fire trigger devices, such as bump stocks, are immediately banned.
Republicans in the Colorado House have fiercely opposed the law at every turn, describing it as “one of the most extreme in the nation” in their April 14 letter to Bondi. 22 GOP representatives signed a letter to Attorney General Bondi, urging the Department of Justice’s new Second Amendment Enforcement Task Force review the law’s constitutionality. They argue the measure infringes on Second Amendment rights and puts law-abiding citizens at risk in a state already grappling with the new reality of rising crime.
“Because of the unconstitutionality as well as the imminent risk posed to Coloradans by eliminating their right to firearms as a means for self-defense, it is our belief that the passage of SB25-003 constitutes an emergency for our state and calls for federal intervention,” House Republicans wrote in their letter to Bondi.
Republicans in both chambers of the General Assembly believe this recently passed bill could put the right to bear arms at the mercy of individuals who lust for greater state power over people’s private affairs. “If we allow the government to redefine rights as privileges, which I argue this bill does, then we place our freedoms at the mercy of those in power,” said Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen. Weld County Sheriff Steve Reams and other law enforcement officials have joined the call, vowing to pursue every legal avenue to overturn the law.
“We have to do anything and everything we can to find out if there’s a way to overturn this,” declared Reams. “If we really want to focus on preventing crime, we need to focus on how to hold criminals accountable and keep them in jail and prison longer for the crimes that they commit.”
Colorado’s transformation into a state with some of the nation’s strictest gun control laws has been a gradual process, marked by a series of legislative actions over many years rather than a sudden shift. The tragic 2012 Aurora theater shooting served as a pivotal moment, spurring lawmakers to enact bans on high-capacity magazines and implement universal background checks. However, this was just the beginning of a steady progression toward tighter regulations.
In the years that followed, Colorado continued to expand on those gun grabs. In 2019, the state passed “red flag laws”, which allow for law enforcement to temporarily confiscate firearms from individuals deemed to be a threat to themselves or others.
Two years later, in 2021, lawmakers mandated secure firearm storage in homes and took the significant step of repealing the state’s firearm preemption law. This repeal empowered local governments to subsequently adopt gun ordinances that are even more restrictive than state law, leading cities like Boulder, Denver, and Louisville to pass their own stringent measures.
The momentum for tighter gun control has continued. In 2023, Colorado implemented a mandatory 72-hour waiting period for most firearm transfers, extending the time between the initiation of a background check and the completion of the sale.
With a solid Democrat trifecta, it will be difficult for Republicans to implement meaningful changes on gun-related issues. Ultimately, they will have to use litigation or call on federal intervention to resist further anti-gun restrictions and restore gun rights.
The ball is now in the federal government’s court, as Colorado Republicans and law-abiding gun owners await a response to their urgent call for a constitutional review of this gun grab.
About José Niño
José Niño is a freelance writer based in Austin, Texas. You can contact him via Facebook and X/Twitter. Subscribe to his Substack newsletter by visiting “Jose Nino Unfiltered” on Substack.com.
