The process for obtaining or renewing a concealed carry permit in Colorado is about to change with legislation going into effect next month that increases the training required to legally carry a concealed weapon.
Colorado House Bill 24-1174, which goes into effect Tuesday, changes several requirements for obtaining a concealed carry permit, including an eight-hour minimum requirement for verified firearms safety courses and requirements for a live-fire exercise and a written exam.
Classes must be held completely in-person and taught by an instructor verified by a county sheriff. Each sheriff’s office must maintain a record of verified firearms instructors and post the list on the agency’s website.
Weld County Sheriff Steve Reams criticized the bill as ambiguous, specifically when it comes to verifying instructors. He said the Weld County Sheriff’s Office has been left to interpret the law as they go, because he feels the direction his agency got through the legislation wasn’t adequate.
“There’s so much confusion with the law,” Reams said. “We had people who teach these classes who had to go through the extra steps to try to figure out, ‘Am I complying with the law? Am I a verified instructor?’ ”
Rep. Marc Snyder, an El Paso County Democrat, along with co-sponsor Majority House Leader Rep. Monica Duran, a Jefferson County Democrat, said the more stringent requirements were almost a no-brainer.
“It’s purely common sense,” Duran said. “It makes sense that if you’re going to have a concealed carry permit, you know how to load and unload that gun. You know how to shoot that gun. You understand the impacts if you ever have to use it.”
But Reams called the bill “unnecessary at best,” adding that it misses the mark on targeting the people committing the majority of crimes involving firearms.
“For the life of me, I don’t know why we’re here, other than a liberal ideology that guns are bad and therefore need to be regulated more and more and more,” Reams said. “But the people that are carrying concealed handguns are very rarely, if ever, the problem in the state of Colorado. They’re typically the rule followers. That’s why they’ve gone through the process of obtaining a concealed carry permit.”
The bill also changes requirements for renewing concealed carry permits. Historically, as with obtaining a permit, there have not been defined requirements for refresher classes. Starting Tuesday, refresher classes must be at least two hours and include a live-fire exercise and written exam.
Permits can be renewed up to 120 days before they expire, and a refresher class must be completed no further back than six months from when a person renews their permit.
Both refresher classes and classes to obtain permits also must now include information on the latest gun laws within the state.
“If you’re going to be proficient with your firearm,” Snyder said. “Not only do you need to know how to use it, how to clean it and other safety measures, but you need to know the law around firearms to make sure you’re not creating more of a problem.”
But Reams feels as if the new regulations are moving the state in the wrong direction. He said Colorado shouldn’t be making it harder for those willing to go through the steps to legally carry a concealed weapon, especially in a gun-friendly county such as Weld.
“Most of Weld County is very open to people’s gun rights,” Reams said. “I can tell you the more concealed weapons permits we issue, the less I worry about crime in Weld County.”
That’s why his office is doing everything it can to make the process as easy as possible for his residents.
“I think everything that we could do to make things easier, we have,” Reams said. “And that’s not by charging any additional fees to instructors. We haven’t charged any fees for people to renew or get a concealed carry permit. So I think the way that we’re facilitating the law is as streamlined as possible to allow people to continue to exercise their Second Amendment rights to the best they can in this state.”
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