Colorado’s SB 3, the sweeping bill banning the sale and manufacture of almost every semi-automatic rifle and shotgun on the market, cleared a major hurdle in the state Senate early Friday morning, but not without some significant changes to the legislation. 

Unfortunately, those changes aren’t for the better. As Rocky Mountain Gun Owners reports, Sen. Julie Gonzales successfully attached an amendment to SB 3 that would allow residents to continue purchasing the banned items going forward, but only if they have a “firearms safety course eligibility card”. RMGO calls the measure a “Firearms Owner ID card” for Colorado, but it could also reasonably be compared to “permit-to-purchase” laws that several states hae adopted on the purchase of handguns. 

Here is the horrific FOID language they are trying to tack on to SB-003: pic.twitter.com/wgudQgqOv0

— Rocky Mountain Gun Owners (@RMGOColorado) February 14, 2025

RMGO’s early morning update from the statehouse included the news that the amended SB 3 was approved on second reading in the Senate, with the third and final vote on the gun ban legislation slated for early next week.  

Capitol Update, circa 2 AM: pic.twitter.com/vlF3kt5Vth

— Rocky Mountain Gun Owners (@RMGOColorado) February 14, 2025

While Colorado Gov. Jared Polis hasn’t commented officially on the amended version of SB 3, it sure sounds like his office had a hand in crafting (or at least pushing for) Gonzales’ amendment. 

Polis has expressed concerns that SB3 could unfairly affect law-abiding gun owners who use firearms for hunting and sport.

On Thursday evening, sources said the governor’s office was working on “significant” amendments that might move some of those reluctant Democrats into a position of support.

That’s key to Sen. Tony Exum, Sr., D-Colorado Springs, who is in one of the most competitive seats in the state Senate.

He said his support could hinge on an amendment backed by the governor’s office and tied to safety instruction. 

The amendment appears designed to provide cover to Democratic lawmakers who are getting an earful from their constituents about signing on to a semi-auto ban. Those legislators who vote in favor of SB 3 can now claim that it’s not a gun ban bill at all, because Colorado residents could continue to purchase semi-automatic rifles and shotguns that can accept detachable magazines so long as they get their Second Amendment permission slip from their county sheriff beforehand. 

The “firearms safety course eligibility card”, however, completely undermines the intent of the legislation. During the debate on Thursday night/Friday morning, Sen. Tom Sullivan, who along with Gonzales is the chief architect of SB 3, argued against another amendment that would exempt military veterans from SB 3’s provisions. 

A successful amendment, but one not likely to stick, was offered by Sen. Larry Liston, R-Colorado Springs, that would exempt “honorably discharged” military veterans from the law. 

Liston’s defense of the amendment produced raised voices, when he began reading off the names and military service of his constituents. When he was told to stick to the amendment by Sen. Janice Marchman, D-Loveland, he accused her of impugning the reputation of those veterans. He was briefly allowed to continue.

Sullivan, in asking for a “no” vote on the amendment, responded by pointing out the mass shootings committed by military veterans or those with military training, as well as veterans who are killing themselves.

“Lee Harvey Oswald was a veteran,” he said, albeit one who was dishonorably discharged.

Sullivan’s comments not only reveal his contempt for Colorado veterans, but are a reminder that at it’s heart SB 3 is a hardware ban. According to its backers, the most common and popular rifles in the country are too dangerous to be sold or possessed in the state. So why create a carveout for residents who take an additional safety course, get fingerprinted, and receive approval from their county sheriff? If Sullivan believes that veterans can’t be trusted to own an AR-15 with a detachable magazine, why does Gonzales (or Polis, for that matter) believe that a piece of paper and some additional training will eradicate the threat of that gun owner committing a violent crime? 

From an anti-gun position, Gonzales’ amendment makes no sense. From a political perspective, however, watering down the bill in order to win the backing of reluctant Democrats (including the governor) may have assured its passage. And once SB 3 becomes law, it can always be revised in the future, with Democrats repealing the grandfather provision and even the firearms safety course eligibility card requirement, making SB 3 a straight semi-auto ban. 

Several Democratic senators have already come out in opposition to SB 3, and gun owners across the state need to continue flooding Senate offices with phone calls and emails demanding their lawmakers oppose the gun ban bill. The pressure is having an impact, but even as amended, SB 3 remains an unconstitutional affront to our Second Amendment rights, and as RMGO says, the fight is far from over.