Could Colorado’s New Permit-to-Purchase Law Do Damage to the Gun Control Lobby?

The legislative abomination that is SB25-003 in Colorado is destined for a date in court as the deadline for its implementation draws closer next year (if not before then). The new law requiring anyone purchasing a gas-operated semi-automatic long gun that can accept a detachable magazine to first undergo training and obtain a Second Amendment permission slip from their local sheriff is an infringement on our right to keep and bear arms, but if there’s one silver lining it’s that the machinations of Colorado Gov. Jared Polis that led to the original bill being amended undercut the rationale for semi-auto bans in the first place. 

On Wednesday, FPC’s Rob Romano highlighted what Polis had to say about the bill when he put pen to paper. 

Colorado Governor says he signed the semi-auto restriction bill because it “ensures that our Second Amendment rights are protected” pic.twitter.com/yp4VcdEk5b

— Rob Romano (@2Aupdates) April 16, 2025

Polis’s contention that SB 3 protects the right to keep and bear arms by allowing commonly owned rifles and shotguns to continue to be purchased is pure nonsense. That’s like saying the First Amendment is being protected by laws requiring you to register your reading material with the federal government. The Second Amendment shouldn’t come with any government-issued permission slip attached. It’s a right of the people, not a privilege doled out by the State. 

As inane as that comment is, I want to focus on another part of the governor’s statement: 

I am confident that this bill contributes to improving public safety in our state by helping to ensure an educated and trained gun owner community, including gun safety and safe storage,” said Governor Jared Polis. “This law is not a ban, and I have been clear that I oppose banning types of firearms. Proper gun safety education and training, however, are key components of public safety and responsible gun ownership.” 

Why do gun control groups like Everytown, Giffords, and Brady want to ban semi-automatic firearms? It’s not because their owners don’t have enough training or education for their liking. As far as they’re concerned these arms are “battlefield weapons of war”, “rapid fire bullet hoses”, and “heavy firepower that has no place in a civilized society”, right?

Which means that if they were intellectually honest with themselves and the public, they would have raised hell over Polis’s amendment, which changed SB 3 from an outright ban on gas-operated semi-automatic long guns capable of accepting a detachable magazine to a permit-to-purchase measure. As things stand, once SB 3 becomes law (and assuming enforcement isn’t enjoined by a court-ordered injunction) in Colorado residents will still be able to buy these “weapons of war” so long as they don’t mind jumping through some additional hoops and navigating a small maze of red tape. And in fact, they’ll be better trained and presumably more proficient in the use of these “rapid fire bullet hoses” that anti-gunners claim are only useful in murdering as many people as possible quickly and efficiently. 

From a gun control perspective, Polis’s changes to SB 3 amount to a poison pill, but not a single anti-gun organization raised a peep in protest after the governor’s office hammered out a deal with Senate Democrats to amend the gun ban legislation. They’re willing to undercut and ignore their own philosophical objections; not because they’re hypocrites (even though many of them are), but because they know at the end of the day enacting SB 3 still advances their agenda in the long-term. It’s easier to amend a law than to repeal it, and they can and will go back and ask for further additions to SB 3, including an end to the grandfather clause and even the removal of the permit-to-purchase system in favor of the outright prohibition they really desire. 

Still, that doesn’t change the fact that committed and ideologically consistent gun control activists should be livid over the governor’s changes to SB 3. Polis’s language indicating he believes an outright ban on AR-15s and other commonly-owned arms would violate our Second Amendment rights can also be used against anti-gun Democrats who continue to push for a complete prohibition in other blue states. Polis is no friend to Second Amendment advocates, but by articulating his rationale for amending and signing SB 3 he obliquely gave gun owners a gift… and revealed a truth that 2A advocates need to keep in mind: the gun control lobby is perfectly willing to sacrifice their ideals in the short term if it will help them enact their gun ban agenda in the long term.