BROOMFIELD — The City and County of Broomfield is set to become the first Colorado community to mandate potential customers take a firearms course before a gun can be purchased — a requirement even more stringent than what is currently required to hold a concealed carry permit.
The ordinance is one of eight the 11-member council will consider at its next regular meeting on Tuesday, November 29.
The local restrictions are possible after Gov. Jared Polis signed Senate Bill 256, passed by the Democrat-controlled legislature in 2021. The new law unwound decades of state preemption and allows local governments to manage their own gun laws, but only so long as they are more restrictive than those at the state level, meaning the law only allows for a one-way ratcheting up rather than true local control.
Ordinance 2192 would require a 10-day waiting period prior to the sale of firearms and “proof of education/competence with firearms.”
“This ordinance would require that the purchaser has demonstrated competence with a firearm by providing evidence of qualified experience or a training certificate from a firearm training class obtained within the 10 years preceding the purchase of the firearm,” the ordinance reads. “However, because the educational requirements are different, proof of a conceal carry permit would not be sufficient to establish competency.”
The “experience” requirement can be met by:
- Evidence of experience with a firearm through participation in organized shooting competitions or current military service;
- Evidence that, at the time the purchase is initiated, the purchaser is a certified firearm instructor;
- Proof of honorable discharge from a branch of the United States armed forces within the three years preceding the purchase of the firearm;
- Proof of honorable discharge from a branch of the United States armed forces that reflects firearm qualifications obtained within the ten years preceding the purchase of the firearm;
- A certificate showing retirement from a Colorado law enforcement agency that reflects firearm qualifications obtained within the ten years preceding the purchase of the firearm.
The “training” requirement can be met with a certificate proving competency in the following topics:
- Firearm safe handling techniques including but not limited to firearm function, parts of a firearm, range etiquette, loading/unloading a firearm, grip, and trigger finger control;
- Firearm and ammunition safe storage and developing a plan for safe storage;
- Mental health resources;
- Situational awareness, de-escalation techniques;
- State and local laws including but not limited to Colorado Extreme Risk Protection Orders, secure storage requirements, reporting lost/stolen firearms requirement, and local firearm laws as found in the City and County of Broomfield Municipal Code.
The new law would be the first of its kind in Colorado. In addition, the council will consider six other laws that include:
- Banning the sale and possession of rapid-fire trigger activators;
- Establishing a minimum age of 21 years to purchase a firearm;
- Regulating the possession of unserialized firearms;
- Requiring all firearm dealers in Broomfield to post signs and provide an educational notification where a firearm sale/transfer occurs;
- Prohibiting the open carry of firearms in public places located in Broomfield;
- Prohibiting the concealed carry of firearms in city and county owned and operated places.
Two additional ordinances would update definitions in code that apply to regulating firearms and update code provisions for consistency.
The council is not considering banning the sale or possession of so-called “assault weapons,” banning the sale or possession of large capacity magazines and prohibiting concealed carry in non-Broomfield owned/operated public places.
Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, a Loveland-based organization, has launched several lawsuits, claiming Second Amendment infringements for other gun restrictions against Boulder, Superior, Louisville and Boulder County. The judges in the Superior and Boulder County cases have issued temporary restraining orders blocking enactment of some of the laws. Louisville and Boulder have agreed on their own to stay their enactment while the case is being litigated.
Broomfield City County meets at 6 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 29 in the Council Chambers at the George DiCiero City and County Building One DesCombes Drive.
