Colorado’s CCW training requirements under HB 24-1174 call for an eight-hour, in-person course taught by a sheriff-verified instructor, a live-fire proficiency test of at least fifty rounds with a 70% accuracy score, and a written exam with an 80% passing score. The same law requires a two-hour in-person refresher within six months before you renew. These rules apply uniformly across all sixty-four Colorado counties and took effect alongside a new instructor-verification system.
The Eight-Hour Initial Course
Every initial concealed handgun training class must be conducted entirely in person, with the instructor physically present in the same room as the students. No portion can be completed online. The minimum is eight hours of instruction, though those hours do not have to happen in a single day.1Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 18-12-202.5 – Concealed Handgun Training Class
The classroom curriculum is set by C.R.S. § 18-12-202.5 and covers:
- Safe handling of firearms and ammunition
- Secure storage practices and child safety
- Shooting fundamentals
- Colorado and federal laws governing lawful purchase, ownership, transportation, and use of firearms, including extreme risk protection orders, lost or stolen firearm reporting, and secure storage laws
- Use of deadly force in self-defense
- Techniques for avoiding criminal attacks and managing violent confrontations
- Best practices for safely interacting with law enforcement during an emergency1Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 18-12-202.5 – Concealed Handgun Training Class
The Live-Fire Proficiency Test
You must complete a live-fire exercise on a range, firing at least fifty rounds. The passing threshold is a minimum 70% accuracy score as determined by the instructor. The range portion does not have to happen on the same day as the classroom work, which gives instructors room to schedule it separately.1Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 18-12-202.5 – Concealed Handgun Training Class
The Written Exam
After classroom instruction, you must pass a written exam covering the material taught in the course. The passing score is 80%. The exam tests safe handling, storage, shooting fundamentals, relevant state and federal firearms laws, use of deadly force, and conflict avoidance.1Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 18-12-202.5 – Concealed Handgun Training Class This catches some applicants off guard. You can shoot well on the range and still fail the course if you don’t study for the written portion, so treat it as its own test and not an afterthought.
Refresher Training Before Renewal
Colorado concealed carry permits are valid for five years. When your permit approaches expiration, you don’t repeat the full eight-hour course. Instead, you take a refresher class of at least two hours, completed within six months before you submit your renewal application.2Colorado General Assembly. HB24-1174 Concealed Carry Permits and Training
The refresher must be held in person and taught by a verified instructor. It focuses on changes to firearms laws enacted since your last training. You still have to pass both a live-fire exercise and a written exam, though the statute does not specify a minimum round count for the refresher live-fire the way it does for the initial course’s fifty-round requirement.2Colorado General Assembly. HB24-1174 Concealed Carry Permits and Training
Don’t wait until the last minute. Finding a verified instructor with openings inside that six-month window can be tighter than people expect, especially in rural counties where fewer instructors operate.
Verified Instructor Standards
HB 24-1174 built a verification system that runs through the county sheriff’s office. To teach a concealed handgun training class or refresher course, an instructor must be verified by a sheriff. Verification requires the instructor to hold a valid certification from a law enforcement agency or a nationally recognized firearms training organization.2Colorado General Assembly. HB24-1174 Concealed Carry Permits and Training
Verified instructors must keep records of the students they train and the scores achieved on the live-fire exercise. That recordkeeping gives sheriffs a way to audit course quality and spot instructors who rubber-stamp certifications. Before you pay for a class, confirm the instructor appears on the verified list maintained by a Colorado county sheriff’s office. Training taken from an unverified instructor won’t support a permit application, no matter how good the course is.
Your Training Certificate
When you pass both the live-fire and written portions, the instructor issues a training certificate. This document is what the sheriff’s office needs to process your application. The statute requires the certificate to include the instructor’s printed name and original signature, and it must clearly indicate whether you completed the full initial training class or the shorter refresher class.1Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 18-12-202.5 – Concealed Handgun Training Class
Check the certificate before you leave the classroom. If the instructor’s name is misspelled, the signature is missing, or the class type is mislabeled, the sheriff’s office can reject your application outright. Getting a corrected certificate after the fact may mean tracking down the instructor and losing weeks on your application.
Alternatives to the Standard Course
Training is one way to show handgun competence, but it isn’t the only one. C.R.S. § 18-12-203 allows an applicant to demonstrate competence through qualifying military service or competitive shooting experience in place of the standard course.3Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 18-12-203 – Criteria for Obtaining a Permit If you think one of those paths applies to you, verify with your county sheriff before skipping the course; sheriffs decide what documentation they’ll accept.
Eligibility You Need Before Spending Money on Training
Training is wasted if you can’t legally hold a permit. Under C.R.S. § 18-12-203, a sheriff must issue a permit only to applicants who are legal Colorado residents (active-duty military stationed in Colorado on permanent orders and their immediate family count), at least 21 years old, not prohibited from possessing firearms under state or federal law, not subject to any protection order including a temporary or extreme risk protection order, and not unlawful users of controlled substances or chronic alcohol abusers.3Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 18-12-203 – Criteria for Obtaining a Permit
Federal law adds its own bar. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than a year of imprisonment, anyone subject to a domestic violence restraining order, anyone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, anyone dishonorably discharged, and anyone adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental institution is prohibited from possessing firearms entirely. A state permit does not override these federal prohibitions.4Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Identify Prohibited Persons If any of these apply to you, resolve the underlying issue first; training can’t fix it.
What the Permit Does Not Cover
Completing training and getting a permit does not let you carry anywhere you want. Colorado law prohibits concealed carry in K-12 schools (though you may keep a handgun locked in your vehicle on school property), in colleges and universities unless the governing board allows it, in licensed childcare centers, in government buildings, in public buildings with permanent security screening at every entrance, at polling locations and ballot drop boxes, and in the chambers, galleries, offices, hearings, and meetings of the General Assembly. Local governments can also pass their own ordinances banning concealed carry in specific areas.5Justia Law. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 18-12-214 – Authority Granted by Permit – Carrying Restrictions Walking into any of these places armed is a separate criminal offense regardless of your permit status, so training to the proficiency standards is only part of carrying lawfully in Colorado.