Skip to content

Friday, Jul 24, 2026

Is it legal to store an unsecured handgun in a car in Colorado?

Cassis Tingley, The Colorado Sun
no

Handguns left in an unattended vehicle must be stored in a locked and rigid container out of plain view. The vehicle must also be locked.

Violating storage rules for handguns left in vehicles is a civil infraction punishable by a fine up to $100. 

Colorado law also requires that stored firearms be kept inaccessible to children and people who are legally barred from possessing a gun. Firearms must be stored in a locked safe or secured with a locking device such as a trigger lock, each protected with a combination, a key or biometric data. Violating these gun storage rules is a class 2 misdemeanor, carrying up to 120 days in jail and fines up to $750. 

Colorado is one of 26 states with child access prevention laws.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

About fact briefs

Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by newsrooms in the Gigafact network.

See all fact briefs

The Colorado Sun is a journalist-founded, award-winning and nonprofit news outlet based in Denver that strives to cover all of Colorado so that our state — our community — can better understand itself. In this way, we believe we can contribute to a more vibrant, informed and whole Colorado. We are committed to fact-based, in-depth and nonpartisan journalism. We cover everything from politics and culture to the outdoor industry and education. Our goal is to produce the best possible journalism. We do that with the help of you, our readers, and community backers. We launched on Sept. 10, 2018.

Learn More

Latest Fact Briefs

Be a Friend of facts

Help us fund more great fact briefs like this one.