State Democrats aren’t slowing down on efforts to regulate guns in Colorado, with more bills introduced this legislative session that impact everything from firearm barrels to 3-D printed “ghost” guns. 

The legislature in recent years has continued to tighten Colorado’s gun laws, as Democratic lawmakers, who hold strong majorities in the House and Senate, say they’re responding to calls for action to quell an epidemic of gun violence. 

“We’ve done a lot of bold work,” said House Majority Leader Monica Duran, D-Wheat Ridge, “and we will continue to build on that.” 

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Senate Democrats earlier this month were quick to pass one of their first measures of the 2026 session, Senate Bill 4, which expands the list of who can petition a judge to temporarily remove someone’s firearms under the state’s “red flag” law. 

With that bill now awaiting action in the House, lawmakers have introduced several other measures to further regulate gun sales and manufacturing. 

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Ban on 3D-printed ‘ghost guns’ 

One of Democrats’ chief gun measures this year, House Bill 1144, would ban the manufacture and sale of 3D-printed “ghost guns,” which don’t have serial numbers and are often difficult to trace. The measure builds on a 2023 law that bans the sale and possession of guns without serial numbers, as well as the manufacture of certain gun parts. 

“The belief here is what we’ve said all along — that firearm ownership in our state should always be coupled with a background check and making sure that the folks who possess those firearms are legally eligible to do so,” said Rep. Andrew Boesenecker, D-Fort Collins, who is sponsoring HB 1144 in the House alongside Rep. Lindsay Gilchrist, D-Denver.

A January report from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives found that the number of privately-manufactured ghost guns recovered at crime scenes surged from 1,629 in 2017 to 27,490 in 2023. 

Ghost guns created with 3D printers have also been connected to some Colorado gun crimes. 

The man who shot and killed five people at the Club Q nightclub in Colorado Springs in 2022 had an interest in making guns with 3D printers. Authorities said the gun used in that attack was untraceable and likely 3D-printed or assembled from parts. Last March, two Colorado Springs men were arrested and indicted on federal crimes for allegedly using a 3D printer to manufacture and sell gun parts across the country. 

HB 1144 would also prohibit possessing instructions for how to print a 3D gun in circumstances that indicate an intent to manufacture a firearm or firearm component. Additionally, the bill would prohibit selling or distributing those instructions. 

Federally licensed firearm manufacturers, however, would be exempt from the ban on manufacturing as well as possessing instructions, though they would still be banned from selling or distributing those instructions. 

Violating any of the bill’s provisions would be a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail, while repeated violations would be a Class 5 felony, which can result in up to three years of jail time. 

HB 1144 is also sponsored in the Senate by Sens. Tom Sullivan, D-Centennial, and Katie Wallace, D-Longmont. The bill is scheduled to be heard by the House Judiciary Committee on Feb. 18. 

Regulations on gun barrel sales, transfers 

Another measure, Senate Bill 43, would make it illegal to sell or transfer gun barrels unless it is by a federally licensed firearm dealer. Violators could face up to $500 in fines and 30 days in a county jail. 

The measure is also related to the effort to crack down on ghost guns, as supporters say it will reduce the proliferation of illegal 3D-built gun parts. 

The bill makes purchasing or acquiring a firearm barrel illegal for anyone under the age of 18 and for anyone who isn’t legally allowed to own a gun. It would also require firearm dealers to keep records of barrel sales, including the buyer’s name, for at least five years. The bill does not apply to sales and transfers to law enforcement agencies and voluntary firearm buyback programs. 

The measure is sponsored by Sullivan and Reps. Meg Froelich, D-Englewood, and Kyle Brown, D-Louisville. It cleared the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs committee Thursday in a 3-2 vote along party lines. 

Sullivan, who has been a lead proponent of gun safety legislation at the Capitol since his son, Alex, was killed in the 2012 Aurora theater shooting, said no one policy will solve gun violence. 

“It’s a broad and complex issue that impacts us in many different ways,” Sullivan said during Thursday’s committee hearing. “It’s also something that needs many different approaches as we work to understand and eventually solve this crisis. I believe it is something that we can all work on together.”

Republicans who opposed the bill said it was too broad, unenforceable and that it conflicted with fundamental Second Amendment rights. 

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“This isn’t about safety. It’s about control,” said Sen. Lynda Zamora Wilson, R-Colorado Springs. “This is restricting our rights. This is violating the Constitution.” 

Tighter rules for gun dealers 

A third measure, House Bill 1126, would further regulate firearm dealers by requiring a state permit to transfer firearms. Under current law, dealers need a permit only to sell guns. 

The bill also requires that dealers keep records on sales and other transactions related to most firearms, rather than just pistols and revolvers, as is current law. 

Other provisions of the bill would require dealers to secure large-capacity magazines, install security devices on doors and windows and have video surveillance on doors and other parts of the business where guns are kept. Dealers would also be required to report lost or stolen firearms to the state. 

HB 1126 is sponsored by Reps. Emily Sirota, D-Denver, and Steven Woodrow, D-Denver, and Sen. Cathy Kipp, D-Fort Collins. The bill is scheduled for its first committee hearing in early March.

Second Amendment rights and where Democrats go from here 

Since taking complete control of state government in 2019, Colorado Democrats have grown more ambitious in their efforts to regulate firearms. 

They’ve allowed for judges to temporarily remove someone’s guns if they’re deemed a threat to themselves or others; raised the purchasing age for most firearms to 21; created a three-day waiting period for guns and banned firearms in areas like schools and voting centers, among a flurry of other laws. 

Republicans and pro-Second Amendment groups continue to lambast Democratic policies, arguing that they do little to curb violence, since criminals will find a way to skirt the law. They say ongoing measures by Democrats to regulate firearms are chipping away at law-abiding citizens’ rights to own guns. 

“If they start regulating every single component of your gun, they can ban every single component of your gun, and that is the real problem here,” Rocky Mountain Gun Owners Executive Director Ian Escalante said during Thursday’s barrel bill hearing. 

Data from the Colorado Office of Gun Violence Prevention shows some progress toward driving down gun deaths in recent years. 

The number of annual gun homicides has fallen from a peak of 304 in 2022 to 209 in 2024, while the number of people killed or injured in a mass shooting has also declined. In 2024, seven people were killed and 21 injured in mass shootings, down from 20 killed and 56 injured the year before. The gun violence office notes that this is similar to national trends. 

Gun safety advocates say there’s still more work to do. 

Despite a drop in homicides, the number of gun-related suicides has consistently risen over the years and remains high, with 710 deaths in 2024. School shootings, like the one last fall at Evergreen High School, also continue to leave their mark on communities. 

On Wednesday, over 100 Colorado high school students who are part of Students Demand Action, a national gun safety group, rallied in support of the proposed ban on 3D-printed guns. They also called on lawmakers to keep doing more to end gun violence. 

“We have spent years listening to lawmakers tell us why they can’t support a bill,” said Carter Ferris, a student at Regis Jesuit High School and local organizer for Students Demand Action. “We have spent years listening to people tell us that we can’t do anything about the issue, but when are these people going to listen to us?”

When asked whether Democrats feel they’ve done enough to quell gun violence, Gilchrist, one of the lawmakers sponsoring the 3D-gun ban measure, said, “We’re not done until kids don’t feel scared when they walk into school.”

Perhaps the biggest policy that’s eluded Democrats is an all-out ban on certain semiautomatic guns, like AR-15s and AK-47s. Two bills seeking to do so failed in 2023 and 2024. A bill last year that supporters said was aimed at enforcing the state’s existing limit on high-capacity magazines — but would have effectively served as a ban on most semiautomatic guns — was also heavily amended to secure Gov. Jared Polis’ signature. 

The measure was changed to allow for the sale of those guns if someone has completed a firearms safety course administered through Colorado Parks and Wildlife, with the program set to go into effect in August. 

Democrats still point to that legislation and others as a win for gun safety, with Gilchrist adding that policies that may not be the most attention-grabbing still make “a huge impact.” 

Duran, the House majority leader, who is term limited at the end of this year, said she expects a conversation around banning certain semiautomatics to come up again in the legislature. 

“Whenever people hear the word ‘ban,’ then, right away you get pushback because they feel you’re taking something away,” Duran said, “but I think those are conversations we still need to have. … I think, considering everything we’ve done already, we’ve kind of laid those foundations and those steps.”