Colorado Firearms Watch

Firearms safety training

SB25-003 requires a firearms safety course before a sheriff-issued eligibility card can be used to buy a specified semiautomatic firearm. You may take the course from any sheriff-verified instructor anywhere in Colorado — the curriculum is standardized statewide.

Which course

Basic course: 4 hours, for applicants with a CPW-verified hunter-education credential. Extended course: 12 hours over at least 2 days, for everyone else.

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Passing the course

Pass a written exam and a hands-on practical with a score of 90% or better.

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A passing course score is valid for 5 years from the date you complete it.

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Fees

  • Firearms training and safety course record fee: $52. Collected by the sheriff's office, forwarded to Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

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  • Sheriff's office processing fee: set by each county; amounts vary.

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A private instructor may charge their own course fee on top of these; that amount is set by the instructor, not the state.

Finding an instructor

The state's verified instructor list is expected July 20; this page will link and mirror it when live.

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Expected 2026-07-20, per Colorado Parks and Wildlife. A watcher checks CPW's page every 6 hours starting July 18 and opens a pull request here the moment the link appears.

Full course and eligibility-card details are on CPW's own page: cpw.state.co.us/specified-semiautomatic-firearms . See /process for how this fits into the full purchase pipeline.