Colorado Dems pushing 2 new bills that would add rules for gun stores, ban 3D-printed firearms

Two more bills recently added to Colorado Democrats' ongoing efforts to further regulate firearms in the state.

House Bill 26-1126 adds security and record-keeping requirements to gun stores, as well as fines up to $100,000 for violations. HB 26-1144 bans the manufacturing of firearms or components with a 3D printer and criminalizes possession of digital instructions.

Both bills, introduced by Democrats in the state legislature last week, are in addition to two other bills lawmakers are considering that would expand the state’s “Red Flag” law and require any gun barrel purchases to be made from a firearm dealer.

HB 26-1126 would also make record-keeping requirements for gun dealers that currently only apply pistol and revolvers apply to all firearm purchases. It would also impose more security system requirements to dealers.

The bill says gun dealers must be “equipped with a security alarm system that includes video surveillance of each door and any area of the business in which firearms are kept” and that the system “must be directly connected to a local law enforcement agency or be continuously monitored by a central station.”

While Colorado law already bans the possession or sale of unserialized firearms or “ghost guns,” HB 26-1144 would clarify the law to include 3D-printed firearms and components.

It also says, “A person shall not possess … digital instructions that may be used to program a three-dimensional printer or a CNC milling machine to manufacture or produce a firearm or firearm component.” CNC stands for Computer Numerical Control.

The group Everytown for Gun Safety said in a written statement that HB 26-1144 is necessary to keep up with “emerging technology.”

“Colorado has shown real leadership on gun safety, but allowing people to 3D-print illegal guns and accessories threatens to undo that progress,” Alexander Cisneros of the University of Colorado Boulder’s Students Demand Action chapter said. “This bill is about responsibility and safety, and making sure dangerous individuals can’t end-run state laws and manufacture untraceable weapons at home, putting our communities at risk.”

Pro-Second Amendment rights groups are opposing both HB 26-1144 and HB 26-1126, as well as the other gun control legislation introduced this session. According to the group Rally For Your Rights, HB 26-1144 has First Amendment implications as well.

“A newly introduced bill down at the Colorado State Capitol takes Constitutional rights violations up a notch, this time targeting both the First and Second Amendments,” the group said in a post on X. “HB26-1144 goes after CNC machining, 3D printing, and digital files, turning the simple act of possessing and sharing information into a crime while outright banning the historic act of private gun making, regardless of serialization or intent.”

Last session, Democrats passed a law barring the sale or purchase of most semi-automatic rifles unless an individual obtains a “firearms safety course eligibility card” and completes an extensive firearm education course.