Colorado Parks and Wildlife has been tasked with rolling out certain training and administrative elements of a new state program for semiautomatic firearms. At its March meeting, the agency’s commissioners discussed what the program is and isn’t, what fees will be required to recoup the costs of implementation.

The program was created by legislators last year to create new training and permit requirements for anyone purchasing certain semiautomatic firearms, including AK- and AR-style rifles. Starting Aug. 1, 2026, anyone purchasing or transferring a qualified semiautomatic firearm will be required to pass a background check and attend an in-person firearms safety course within five years before the transaction. 

To implement the law, Parks and Wildlife will be required to 

• Develop and operate a system of records for the administration of the firearm safety program
• Create a form for all applicants purchasing or transferring an eligible firearm after Aug. 1 that will be submitted to county sheriffs’ departments 
• Determine which firearms safety course a customer must take, based on whether or not they’ve taken a previous hunter education course
• Establish a firearm safety curriculum 
• Provide an annual report to the state judiciary committees about program expenses

Through its initial stakeholder engagement, the state agency has seen “a lot of misinformation” about the program, according to Dan Coil, Parks and Wildlife’s firearms safety program manager. 

“It’s a priority for us to get the information out there about what the firearm safety program is,” Coil said, following up with a list of what the program is not. 

The program, Coil clarified, is not a database for gun purchases or ownership, not a replacement for any existing gun purchase requirements, not a requirement for ammunition purchases, does not prohibit the use or possession of semiautomatic firearms and only affects semiautomatic firearms purchased after Aug. 1, 2026. 

One thing is still undetermined: the exact list of guns that will fall under the new program. While the law defines these firearms as a semiautomatic rifle or shotgun with a detachable magazine or a gas-operated semiautomatic handgun with a detachable magazine, the Colorado Department of Revenue will be required to publish a list of the specific firearms subject to the new requirements.  

“(The list) has been delayed numerous times,” Coil said. “That list will never be static. It will be ever living and ever changing as new guns are developed by manufacturers.” 

When it’s available, the list will be posted on both the Department of Revenue and Parks and Wildlife websites, Coil said. 

Most semiautomatic hunting shotguns and several other firearm types are exempt under the statute, according to the agency. 

Parks and Wildlife is continuing stakeholder engagement with firearms dealers, sheriff’s offices, instructors and the general public this spring as it heads toward the August implementation. 

Step by step: What the program will look like for customers 

At the March commissioner meeting, Parks and Wildlife staff took the commissioners on a step-by-step journey of what customers will be faced with when purchasing a semiautomatic firearm after Aug. 1. 

The journey starts with customers completing an application on the Parks and Wildlife website, which they will take to the county sheriff’s office alongside a completed background check and government-issued photo ID. There will be fees collected at this stage to help cover both Parks and Wildlife’s and the sheriff’s costs for administration. 

The sheriff’s office will determine eligibility and enter this into the online system developed by Parks and Wildlife. At this point, Parks and Wildlife will determine which firearms safety course the applicant is required to take. Once an eligibility card is issued, the applicant has five years to take the course. 

If the applicant has previously taken a Parks and Wildlife-certified hunter education course, they will be eligible for a shorter, four-hour basic course. If they have not, they will be required to attend a 12-hour course. Both courses will be offered through a local sheriff’s office and administered by a qualified firearms instructor, using the curriculum developed by Parks and Wildlife. 

Once the customer completes the firearm safety course, they will be required to take an in-person exam. If they individual passes, they will be able to purchase the firearm, 

Throughout the process, each step will be recorded by Parks and Wildlife, sheriffs’ offices, firearms safety instructors and firearms dealers in the system created by the state wildlife agency.  

County sheriffs on the Western Slope have expressed concerns that implementation will strain already-thin resources in their offices. Speaking on behalf of the Rio Blanco County Sheriff’s Office, Lt. Jeremy Muxlow told commissioners that implementing the law is a “serious burden: on small, rural sheriff’s offices. 

“This law adds bureaucracy for law enforcement and obstacles for the citizens,” Muxlow said. “At some point, you have to ask a very simple question. Is the goal truly public safety, or is the goal to make the process so complicated that people simply give up trying to purchase firearms? Because from where we sit in rural Colorado, that is exactly what this looks like.”

Parks and Wildlife to set fees, recoup administrative costs

The Parks and Wildlife Commission is in the process of setting a record fee to help the agency cover its expenses in implementing the new firearms safety program. The agency discussed the fee at its March meeting and will hold the final rulemaking at its May meeting. 

“The fee must reflect actual, direct, and indirect costs to implement this section,” said Kirk Teklits, the agency’s business operations manager. “So this is not revenue-generating whatsoever. This is strictly to cover the cost of administering this program.” 

To cover the program’s upstart costs so far, the agency borrowed $1.5 million from its cash funds, which it will pay back by 2030, according to Teklits. It is anticipated that the program will cost the agency just over $1 million in its first two years to cover hiring and building the software. After that, it is expected to cost around $750,000 annually to run. 

Without knowing which specific firearms will be included under the law, Teklits said it is difficult to estimate the expected number of applicants. 

“That (Department of Revenue list) will determine, probably, the number of folks that will apply for this,” he said. ” We are guessing that first year numbers will probably be down, as the list comes out, folks will probably purchase what’s on the list prior to Aug. 1. … Second year, probably be up a little bit, third year, will probably be more of a normal number.”

It is estimated that “normal” will be around 25,000 applicants each year, Teklits said.

Following commission direction and staff recommendations, the May rulemaking will propose a $52 fee for each applicant to cover the annual costs. Teklits said that the law allows the commission to adjust the fee once a year.