Colorado Democrats Advance Two Gun Bills. Small Dealers Get the Bill
Colorado House Democrats passed one bill tightening dealer rules and another expanding red flag petitioners. Republicans say small gun shops and due process will pay the price.
Colorado House Democrats pushed through two major gun bills Friday, and if you own a small firearms business or care about due process, you can already see where this is headed. One bill piles new compliance costs onto gun dealers. The other expands who can ask a court to strip someone of gun access under the state's extreme risk protection order system.
Republicans warned the package would hit small businesses, weaken constitutional protections, and hand more power to institutions that already have plenty of it. Democrats insisted the bills are about safety and record-keeping. Because of course every new restriction is always about safety until the paperwork, fines, and enforcement start landing on ordinary people.
According to The Center Square, the House passed HB26-1126 on a 34-28 party-line vote. The chamber also passed SB26-004 by a 39-24 vote, sending that measure to Gov. Jared Polis, who is expected to sign it.
What HB26-1126 Actually Does
The dealer bill is not a tiny cleanup measure. According to the official Colorado bill summary, HB26-1126 clarifies that a state permit is required for a dealer to transfer firearms, extends background check and compliance rules to "responsible persons" and others handling dealer functions, expands record-keeping requirements beyond pistols and revolvers to nearly all firearms transactions, and requires new security measures at dealer locations.
That includes surveillance, alarm systems, lighting requirements, security plans, and rules for securing large-capacity magazines. The bill also allows the state to impose steep penalties for repeat violations.
If you are a big operation with lawyers, compliance staff, and deep pockets, that is irritating. If you are a small hometown gun store trying to keep the lights on, that is a different story.
The Small Business Problem Nobody Is Supposed to Notice
Republican Rep. Anthony Hartsook put it plainly during floor debate.
"These requirements to firearm dealers will have one net result: It will drive costs up."
He went further, warning that some smaller dealers will decide it is no longer cost-effective to stay in business.
That is the part progressives rarely say out loud. They do not always need to ban something outright if they can regulate it until only the largest, most politically connected players can survive. Fewer local dealers. More bureaucracy. More state leverage. Same result.
Here is what opponents are looking at:
More people connected to a dealer operation swept into regulatory review
Expanded record-keeping obligations for firearm transactions
New physical security mandates and compliance planning
Increased exposure to fines and enforcement actions
Higher costs that land hardest on smaller independent shops
Colorado Democrats call that closing gaps. Small businesses call it a warning label for getting out while you still can.
SB26-004 Expands Red Flag Petitions Even Further
The second bill, SB26-004, widens the list of people and institutions that can petition for an extreme risk protection order. Under Colorado's official summary, the bill adds health care facilities, behavioral health treatment facilities, K-12 schools, institutions of higher education, and certain co-responder community response personnel to the pool of eligible petitioners.
That means more institutional actors can ask a court to remove someone's access to firearms.
Supporters frame that as common sense. Critics see a due process problem getting bigger by the year.
Colorado already had family members and others able to file petitions. Now lawmakers want schools and facilities folded deeper into the process. In a political culture where dissent is often treated as pathology and ordinary conservatives are viewed with suspicion, that should make you sit up a little straighter.
Republican Rep. Rebecca Keltie did not sugarcoat her concerns.
"This bill in itself will cause harm, and in my opinion, voting for it will as well."
Short sentence. Clear point.
The Broader Pattern in Colorado
Look at these two bills together and the pattern is obvious. One measure pressures the supply side by burdening lawful dealers. The other expands the machinery for taking away access once government or affiliated institutions decide someone is a concern. You do not need a lecture to see the direction of travel.
According to the Colorado legislature website, HB26-1126 remains under consideration after House passage, while SB26-004 has fully passed the legislature. So this is not theoretical. Part of the package is already on the governor's desk.
And notice what lawmakers are not talking about nearly as much: criminals do not file compliance plans. Gang members do not lose sleep over alarm-system paperwork. Cartels are not worried about whether a storefront has the right interior lighting for surveillance footage. The people who get squeezed first are the people following the law.
That is why so many conservatives roll their eyes when gun control advocates promise these bills only target bad actors. If that were true, the language would not keep sprawling outward toward dealers, schools, facilities, contractors, and every other entity the state can rope in.
What Comes Next
HB26-1126 now heads to the Senate, where the fight over dealer regulations will continue. SB26-004 appears set for Gov. Polis's signature unless something unexpected happens.
If you live in Colorado, this is the moment to pay attention, not after the rules are finalized and the fines start showing up. Ask your legislators a simple question: why is the state making it harder for lawful businesses to operate and easier for institutions to trigger gun-rights removals?
You already know the answer they will give you. Safety. Accountability. Process. The usual script.
The real question is whether voters are willing to keep accepting a system where every new restriction lands on the law-abiding first. That is how rights get hollowed out in plain sight.