On July 1, several state laws passed in the 2024 and 2025 sessions of the Colorado legislature went into effect. Of those passed and now operative, gun regulations are probably of more immediate interest to Valley residents than are some of the others.
The new gun laws apply tighter regulations to aspects of selling and carrying firearms.
House Bill 24-1353 requires gun shops to have a state license in addition to a federal permit in order to sell firearms, to conduct fingerprint background checks on their employees every three years, and to train staff on preventing self-harm and detecting straw purchases (one person buying a weapon for another person). Rather than relying on federal oversight, stores are also now subject to random inspections, giving local law enforcement more leeway in investigative and punitive authority.
House Bill 24-1174 requires those wanting a concealed-carry permit to take an in-person training class, to pass a written exam, and to qualify in a live-fire exercise with a gun. The course must be at least eight hours long, and can include both the written and live-fire tests.
Among the other laws that have come into effect are:
– House Bill 1146, which allows more beds for keeping kids in custody before their trials. Now capped at 215, if that number is filled, another 39 will be made available. The bill also inaugurates a pilot program in one detention facility and in one commitment facility for staff to wear body-cams.
– Senate Bill 24, which adds 15 judges to a number of state district and county courts; Custer County is not affected.
– The Joint Budget Committee ruling to cut about $1.2 billion from this year’s budget, which will withdraw funding for computer-science education grants for public schools, for helping high schools pay for advanced placement and International Baccalaureate exams, and for grants to tertiary institutions for programs for students with intellectual or developmental disabilities.
– House Bill 1138, which affects sexual assault civil cases. Speech, hairstyle, lifestyle, clothing, and past sexual history generally can no longer be used as evidence related to consent, harm or credibility. They may still be introduced by defense attorneys, but only after the judge overseeing the case has cleared it in a separate hearing.
Other new laws provide easier access to medication-assisted treatment, require improved detox service tracking, soften requirements for water or gas backflow devices inspectors, consolidates two previous mental health resource hotlines into one by calling 988, and terminates a program that had designated “friendly workplaces” for people with substance-use disorders.
– W.A. Ewing
