SB 25-003
Fiscal Note
Legislative Council Staff
Nonpartisan Services for Colorado’s Legislature
SB 25-003: SEMIAUTOMATIC FIREARMS & RAPID-FIRE DEVICES
Prime Sponsors:
Sen. Sullivan; Gonzales J.
Rep. Boesenecker; Froelich
Published for: Senate State Affairs
Drafting number: LLS 25-0599
Fiscal Analyst:
Clayton Mayfield, 303-866-5851
clayton.mayfield@coleg.gov
Version: Initial Fiscal Note
Date: January 23, 2025
Fiscal note status: The fiscal note reflects the introduced bill.
Summary Information
Overview. The bill prohibits the manufacture, distribution, transfer, sale, or purchase of certain
semiautomatic firearms and classifies rapid-fire devices as dangerous weapons.
Types of impacts. The bill is projected to affect the following areas on an ongoing basis starting in
FY 2025-26:
State Revenue
State Expenditures
Local Government
Appropriations. No appropriation is required.
Table 1
State Fiscal Impacts
Type of Impact
Budget Year
FY 2025-26
Out Year
FY 2026-27
State Revenue $0 $0
State Expenditures $0 $0
Transferred Funds $0 $0
Change in TABOR Refunds $0 $0
Change in State FTE 0.0 FTE 0.0 FTE
Page 2
January 23, 2025 SB 25-003
Summary of Legislation
The bill prohibits the manufacture, distribution, transfer, sale, or possession of semiautomatic
rifles or shotguns with detachable magazines and gas-operated semiautomatic handguns. Rifles
that use .22 caliber, or lower, rim-fire ammunition are not prohibited, unless the rifle has
separate upper and lower receivers. Other exceptions are provided in the bill for certain persons,
including law enforcement. The Attorney General is authorized to provide guidance regarding
implementation of the bill, including issuing opinions or providing other guidance about specific
firearms to which the bill applies.
The penalty for a violation is a class 2 misdemeanor, or a class 6 felony for second or
subsequent violations. Any conviction is grounds for denial of any future firearm transfers, and
makes a person subject to the felony for possession of a weapon as a previous offender
(POWPO) restrictions. Additionally, the Department of Revenue (DOR) must revoke the state
firearm dealer permit of any dealer who is convicted for a violation.
The bill classifies rapid-fire devices as dangerous weapons, which are subject to other
prohibitions and penalties in statute, and removes references to machine gun conversion
devices.
Comparable Crime Analysis
Legislative Council Staff is required to include certain information in the fiscal note for any bill
that creates a new crime, changes the classification of an existing crime, or creates a new factual
basis for an existing crime. The following section outlines crimes that are comparable to the
offense in this bill and discusses assumptions on future rates of criminal convictions resulting
from the bill.
Prior Conviction Data
Specified Semiautomatic Firearms
This bill creates the new offense of unlawful manufacture, distribution, transfer, sale, or purchase
of a specified semiautomatic firearm, a class 2 misdemeanor for a first offense or a class 6 felony
for a second or subsequent offense. To form an estimate on the prevalence of this new crime,
the fiscal note analyzed the existing offense of unlawful sale, transfer, or possession of a
large-capacity magazine, a class 2 misdemeanor, as a comparable crime. From FY 2021-22 to
FY 2023-24, 203 offenders have been sentenced and convicted for this existing offense. Of the
persons convicted, 198 were male and 5 were female. Demographically, 102 were white, 86 were
Black/African-American, 9 were Hispanic, 3 were Asian, 2 were American Indian, and 1 was
classified as “Other.” Page 3
January 23, 2025 SB 25-003
POWPO
The bill creates a new factual basis for the existing offense of possession of a weapon by a
previous offender (POWPO), a class 5 felony, by adding a new potential felony conviction that
would make a person ineligible to possesses a firearm. From FY 2021-22 to FY 2023-24,
423 persons have been sentenced and convicted for this existing offense. Of the persons
convicted, 399 were male, 20 were female, and 4 did not have a gender identified.
Demographically, 291 were White, 96 were Black/African-American, 20 were Hispanic, 4 were
Asian, 3 were American Indian, 8 were classified as “Other,” and 1 did not have a race identified.
Dangerous Weapons
The bill creates a new factual basis for the existing offense of possession of a dangerous
weapon, a class 5 felony, by removing machine gun conversion devices and adding rapid-fire
devices to the list of dangerous weapons. From FY 2021-22 to FY 2023-24, 173 persons have
been sentenced and convicted for this existing offense. Of the persons convicted, 160 were
male, and 13 were female. Demographically, 125 were White, 26 were Black/African-American,
11 were Hispanic, 6 were Asian, 1 was American Indian, 3 were classified as “Other,” and 1 did
not have a race identified.
Assumptions
Overall, the fiscal note assumes that there will be minimal or no additional case filings or
convictions from the new offense under the bill, or from the changes to existing offenses. The
new offense under the bill does not prohibit possession, while the comparable crime includes
this element. Additionally, prohibited conduct for the new offense will mostly impact firearm
dealers, who are assumed to follow all laws regarding firearms. POWPO offenses require a
previous felony conviction. Under the bill, a felony conviction is only possible after a first
offense, which is assumed to minimally occur. Finally, replacing machine gun conversion devices
with rapid-fire devices in the list of dangerous weapons is unlikely to increase case filings or
convictions because the similarity of these devices means that possession of rapid-fire devices is
likely already being prosecuted under current law. Visit leg.colorado.gov/fiscalnotes for more
information about criminal justice costs in fiscal notes.
State Revenue
Based on the Comparable Crime Analysis section, this analysis assumes that there will be a
minimal impact on state revenue. Under the bill, criminal fines and court fees, which are subject
to TABOR, may increase by a minimal amount.
State Expenditures
The bill impacts state expenditures for several state agencies as described below. Page 4
January 23, 2025 SB 25-003
Criminal Justice System
Based on the assumptions in the Comparable Crime Analysis section, this analysis assumes that
there will be a minimal impact on the criminal justice system. Under the bill, any increase in
workload and costs for the Judicial Department, including the trial courts, Division of Probation,
and agencies that provide representation to indigent persons, and to the Department of
Corrections, are assumed to be minimal and no change in appropriations is required.
Department of Law
The bill authorizes, but does not require, the Department of Law (DOL) to provide guidance to
the public and law enforcement agencies regarding implementation of the bill, including issuing
opinions on specific models of firearms that are prohibited. Depending on the amount of
guidance needed by the public and law enforcement, workload for the DOL may increase and
could require additional resources. The fiscal note assumes that since the bill does not require
the DOL to provide guidance, no additional appropriations are required at this time. If the DOL
chooses to produce guidance which requires more resources to provide, this will be addressed
through the annual budget process.
Department of Revenue
The bill requires the DOR to revoke the state firearm dealer permit of any dealer who violates
the provisions of the bill. This increases workload for the DOR; however, based on the
population of firearm dealers and an assumption that most dealers will follow the law, the
increase is expected to be minimal and no additional appropriations are required.
Department of Public Safety
To the extent the bill results in the submission of firearms to the Colorado Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) for functionality testing to determine if firearms are prohibited by the bill,
workload will increase. Any workload increase is assumed to be minimal.
Local Government
Similar to the state, it is expected that any workload or cost increases for district attorneys to
prosecute more offenses, or for county jails to imprison more individuals under the bill will be
minimal. District attorney offices and county jails are funded by counties.
Effective Date
The bill takes effect September 1, 2025, and applies to offenses committed on or after this date. Page 5
January 23, 2025 SB 25-003
Departmental Difference
The Department of Public Safety (CDPS) estimates the bill requires $4,655,352 General Fund and
8.0 FTE in FY 2025-26, and $995,792 General Fund and 8.0 FTE in FY 2026-27 and ongoing. This
is based on an assumption that the bill will result in the submission of an additional
1,000 firearms per year to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for functionality testing to
determine if firearms are prohibited by the bill. The CDPS indicates that under current law
1,000 firearms per year are processed by forensic firearm examiners. The increase in workload
would require additional forensic staff, support staff, forensic examination equipment, other
specialized equipment, non-standard staff operating costs, and, due to the lack of space at the
CBI lab in Pueblo for these additional staff and equipment, a remodel of the Pueblo lab and
purchase of temporary leased space to house staff while the remodel is in progress.
Based on the Comparable Crime Analysis section above, responses of other agencies regarding
the potential for violations to occur, and bill language allowing for the DOL to issue guidance or
opinions regarding implementation of the bill, the fiscal note assumes a minimal amount of
additional firearms may be submitted to the CBI. This increase in workload does not require
additional appropriations, and the fiscal note does not include the CDPS’s costs.
State and Local Government Contacts
Corrections
District Attorneys
Judicial
Law
Natural Resources
Public Safety
Revenue
The revenue and expenditure impacts in this fiscal note represent changes from current law under the bill for each
fiscal year. For additional information about fiscal notes, please visit the General Assembly website.