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A Permit-to-Purchase law in Colorado would require that prospective firearm purchasers obtain a permit to purchase a firearm. Like getting a driver’s license, this ensures all gun owners are well trained in firearm safety practices.


Permit-to-purchase laws typically require the applicant to apply for a permit through local or state law enforcement, undergo a thorough background check (often using fingerprints), and complete a firearm safety training course.

Permit-to-Purchase Works!

Eleven other states have permit-to-purchase laws, so we know
these laws reduce gun violence:

Connecticut’s permit-to-purchase law reduced the state’s firearm homicide rate by 28% and firearm suicide rate by 33% from 1996-2017.1

Permit-to-purchase laws were associated with a 28% lower rate of shootings by police officers.2


Permit-to-purchase laws with fingerprinting and an in-person application step were associated with 56% fewer mass shootings and 67% fewer mass shooting victims than states without such laws.3

How Does Permit-to-Purchase Make Us Safer?

– The comprehensive background check can catch additional disqualifying records, including some that may not have been sent to the FBI. 

– The safety training ensures that prospective gun owners know how to responsibly handle, store, and use a firearm.

– The in-person application step and approval period help deter straw purchasers (people who buy firearms on behalf of prohibited persons) and people at risk of harming themselves or others.

Is Permit-to-Purchase Constitutional?

Yes. Courts have overwhelmingly upheld Permit-to-Purchase against Second Amendment challenges. Specifically, in its New York State Rifle & Pistol Association vs. Bruen decision, the U.S. Supreme Court was careful to state that it did not call into question the constitutionality of laws that “are designed to ensure only that those bearing arms in the jurisdiction are, in fact, ‘law-abiding, responsible citizens.’”

Is Permit-to-Purchase Popular?

It is! A 2025 survey of 1,551 Coloradans shows that 79% supported permit-to-purchase, including 69% with firearms in the home. 85% supported requiring completion of a firearm safety course before purchasing a firearm, including 77% with firearms in the home.4

Also, 72% of Americans support permit-to-purchase requirements. That number includes 64% of gun owners and 61% of Republicans.5

An Enhanced Background Check

Permit-to-Purchase functions largely like an enhanced background check. By creating one set of rules for all firearm purchases, it will simplify Colorado’s complicated firearm permitting system.

Citations

  1. McCourt A, Crifasi CK, Vernick JS, Kagawa R, Wintemute G & Webster DW. (2020). Purchaser licensing, point-of-sale background check laws, and firearm homicide and suicide in 4 US states, 1985-2017. American Journal of Public Health. ↩︎
  2. Crifasi, CK, Ward, J, McCourt, AD, Webster, D, & Doucette, ML. (2023). The association between permit-to-purchase laws and shootings by police. Injury Epidemiology. ↩︎
  3. Webster DW, McCourt AD, Crifasi CK, Booty MD & Stuart EA. (2020) Evidence concerning the regulation of firearms design, sale, and carrying on fatal mass shootings in the United States. Criminology & Public Policy. ↩︎
  4. Colorado Firearm Prevention Survey, University of Colorado Anschutz, 2025. ↩︎
  5. Villarreal S, Barnhorst A, Bonnie R, Chavis K, Crifasi C, Frattaroli S, Roskam K, Swanson J, Washington S,
    Horwitz, J (2025). Firearm Purchaser Licensing: Research Evidence to Inform State Policy.
    https://publichealth.jhu.edu/FPL-Report ↩︎

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