Thursday, May. 16, 2024
Would Colorado’s ‘assault weapons’ bill have allowed authorities to confiscate people’s guns?
A bill approved by the Colorado House of Representatives but killed in the Senate in May 2024 proposed to ban the “manufacturing, importing, purchasing, selling, offering to sell, or transferring ownership of an assault weapon,” but it would not have outlawed guns already in someone’s possession.
The bill defined an assault weapon as a semiautomatic rifle that can be fed with a detachable magazine and includes other characteristics such as a muzzle brake. The bill also applied to .50-caliber rifles and semiautomatic pistols and shotguns with specific secondary features.
Ten states and Washington, D.C., restrict some semiautomatic weapons, according to the League of Women Voters. Most permit possession of guns obtained before the laws went into effect, while California and Illinois prohibit possession except in specific locations, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
- Colorado General Assembly Summary of House Bill 24-1292
- Colorado General Assembly Text of House Bill 24-1292
- League of Women Voters Assault Weapons: What is Their Legality and Impact?
- Giffords Gifford Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence Assault Weapons
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 Gigafact contributor publications.
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 MoreLatest Fact Briefs
Does the Colorado River supply most of Southern California’s water?
Friday, Jan. 31, 2025
Are employers in Colorado required to pay workers for unused vacation time?
Friday, Jan. 24, 2025