No, you do not have to register guns in Colorado. The state has no firearm registry, and state law goes a step further by prohibiting any city, county, or state agency from building one. Colorado does, however, impose several real obligations on gun owners — background checks on nearly all transfers, a three-day waiting period, safe storage, and a deadline to report lost or stolen firearms — and those are where the legal risk actually sits.
No Registry, and None Allowed
Colorado Revised Statutes 29-11.7-102 bars local governments and law enforcement agencies from maintaining any list or database of people who buy, sell, or transfer firearms, or of firearm descriptions and serial numbers.1Colorado Bureau of Investigation. Colorado Bureau of Investigation – Firearms FAQs No agency in the state can legally create a gun registry even if it wanted to.
People sometimes assume that because a licensed dealer keeps paperwork on a sale, the state must be tracking the gun. It isn’t. Federally licensed dealers are required under federal law to complete and retain an ATF Form 4473 for every transaction, documenting the buyer, the firearm, and the background check result.2Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Federal Firearms Licensee Quick Reference and Best Practices Guide Those records stay with the dealer. If the dealer goes out of business, the records go to the ATF, not to any Colorado database.
What Colorado Requires at the Point of Sale
The state’s regulatory focus is on transfers, not ownership. Since July 1, 2013, nearly every firearm transfer between people who are not licensed dealers has to run through a federally licensed firearms dealer, who contacts the Colorado Bureau of Investigation’s InstaCheck Unit to run the buyer against criminal and mental health records.3Justia. Colorado Code 18-12-112 – Private Firearms Transfers – Background Check Required – Penalty – Definitions The check costs $15.4Colorado Criminal Information Center. InstaCheck
Skipping that check on a private transfer is a class 2 misdemeanor, and a conviction also bars you from possessing any firearm for two years.3Justia. Colorado Code 18-12-112 – Private Firearms Transfers – Background Check Required – Penalty – Definitions
Every buyer in Colorado has to be at least 21, whether the firearm is a handgun, rifle, or shotgun. The only exceptions are active members of the U.S. armed forces and certified peace officers.5Colorado General Assembly. SB23-169 Increasing Minimum Age To Purchase Firearms
When a Background Check Isn’t Required
The statute lists several transfers that don’t need a check:3Justia. Colorado Code 18-12-112 – Private Firearms Transfers – Background Check Required – Penalty – Definitions
- Gifts or loans between immediate family, including spouses, parents, children, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and first cousins.
- Antique firearms and curios or relics, as defined under federal law.
- Temporary transfers at a shooting range, during a sanctioned competition, or while hunting, fishing, or trapping, so long as the activity is legal and the borrower holds any required license.
- Short-term loans of up to 72 hours. You may be held jointly liable if the borrower uses the firearm unlawfully.
- Transfers that happen in your continuous presence — if you hand someone your firearm and stay right there, no check is required.
- Dropping a firearm off for repair or maintenance, as long as everyone who handles it can legally possess firearms.
- Transfers by a service member deploying overseas within 30 days to an immediate family member.
The Three-Day Waiting Period
A cleared background check doesn’t mean you leave with the gun that day. The dealer cannot deliver the firearm until the later of three days after the check was initiated or the date the check is actually approved.6Colorado General Assembly. HB23-1219 – Waiting Period To Deliver A Firearm If the check clears in minutes, you still wait three days. If it takes five days to come back approved, you pick up the firearm on day five. The waiting period applies to every firearm, not just handguns.
Safe Storage Is a Legal Duty
Since July 2021, Colorado has required firearm owners to store their guns securely using a locking device, gun safe, or gun cabinet, to prevent access by children and anyone prohibited from possessing firearms under state or federal law. Unlawful storage is a class 2 misdemeanor.7Justia. Colorado Code 18-12-114 – Unlawful Storage of a Firearm This is the kind of law that doesn’t come up until something goes wrong, but the criminal exposure is real.
Reporting a Lost or Stolen Firearm
If one of your firearms is lost or stolen, you have five days to report it to a law enforcement agency. A household or family member can make the report on your behalf, and if they do, you’ve satisfied the requirement. A first missed deadline is a civil infraction with a $25 fine. A second or subsequent failure becomes an unclassified misdemeanor punishable by up to $500.8Colorado Bureau of Investigation. Colorado Code 18-12-113 – Lost or Stolen Firearms
Magazine Capacity Limit
Colorado bans the sale, transfer, and possession of magazines that hold more than 15 rounds. The violation is a class 2 misdemeanor, and it jumps to a class 6 felony if you possess an oversized magazine while committing a felony or crime of violence.9Justia. Colorado Code 18-12-302 – Large-Capacity Magazines Prohibited
Magazines owned before July 1, 2013 are grandfathered in, provided you’ve kept continuous possession since that date. If you’re charged, the prosecution has to prove you didn’t own the magazine before the cutoff.9Justia. Colorado Code 18-12-302 – Large-Capacity Magazines Prohibited
Your City or County May Add Rules
Colorado repealed its statewide firearm preemption law in 2021, so cities and counties can now pass their own firearm restrictions as long as the local rules are at least as strict as state law.10Colorado General Assembly. SB21-256 Local Regulation Of Firearms A local government can regulate the sale, purchase, transfer, or possession of firearms, ammunition, and accessories within its borders.
Several cities have used that authority to ban weapons they categorize as “assault weapons,” including certain semi-automatic rifles and pistols with specific features. Denver, for example, bans assault weapons and open carry inside city limits. Open carry isn’t prohibited at the state level, but because local governments can regulate it, you need to check the municipal code wherever you plan to carry.11Department of Public Safety. Colorado Gun Laws The practical point for a gun owner is that the state answer isn’t always the full answer. Check your city and county rules before you buy, carry, or move a firearm.