Three cases, three dates, and what actually changes for you — which, today, is nothing
Colorado didn’t ban the AR-15.
It made you ask permission first.
Since August 1, buying one here means a firearms safety course eligibility card from your county sheriff, a state-approved course, and a written exam you pass at 90 percent. The rifle is still legal to own. The door to buying one now has three locks on it.
This term the Supreme Court decides whether the rifle itself is protected by the Second Amendment. That’s a different question than the one Colorado answered. But it’s the question every other argument about Colorado’s law rests on — and for the first time, the Court is going to answer it directly.
Here’s what’s happening, in order, and what it means for you.
December 2: The Court Hears the AR-15 Case
On June 30, the Supreme Court agreed to hear two cases together: Viramontes v. Cook County, a challenge to an Illinois county ordinance, and Grant v. Higgins, a challenge to Connecticut’s state ban. Both laws prohibit AR-15-platform semiautomatic rifles outright. Lower courts upheld both.
The Court has scheduled argument for December 2, 2026.
The question is narrow and it is enormous. Since Heller in 2008, and again in Bruen in 2022, the Court has said that arms in common use for lawful purposes are protected. The challengers put it plainly: if the most popular rifle in the country isn’t in common use, it’s hard to see what that phrase could possibly mean.
The Court usually hands down its decisions by the end of June. So you’re most likely looking at next summer for an answer.
September 28: The Court Decides Whether to Take Magazines Too
This one is a week away.
On September 28 the justices hold their long conference, where they sort through hundreds of petitions that piled up over the summer. Among them is Duncan v. Bonta, a challenge to California’s ban on magazines over ten rounds.
If the Court takes it, magazine limits join the docket. That matters here, because Colorado has had one since July 1, 2013. Under C.R.S. 18-12-301 and -302, a magazine that holds more than 15 rounds is a large-capacity magazine, and selling, transferring, or possessing one is a crime.
There’s a grandfather clause, and it is narrower than most people think. You’re covered only if you owned the magazine on July 1, 2013, and you’ve kept continuous possession of it since. Sell it or give it away, and the exemption doesn’t go with it — the new owner didn’t have it on July 1, 2013.
The Court may take Duncan, deny it, or hold it until the AR-15 case is decided. Any of those is possible. We’ll know within days of the 28th.
Any Day Now: The Colorado Case
The third case is ours.
Del Toro v. Polis was filed in federal court in Denver on September 2, 2025. The plaintiffs are six individuals and the Colorado State Shooting Association, represented by Mountain States Legal Foundation. They’re challenging SB25-003 directly — the eligibility card, the course, the fees.
On August 11, ten days after the law took effect, they asked the court for a preliminary injunction: an order stopping the eligibility-card requirement while the case proceeds. The state’s response was due around September 1 and the plaintiffs’ reply around September 8. That motion has been fully briefed for two weeks. As of this writing there’s no hearing on the docket and no ruling.
That means a decision could land at any time.
Their arguments are specific. Costs that run past $589 before you’ve bought anything. Sheriffs with no written criteria and no deadline to decide on your card. Training that isn’t available in many counties. A 90 percent passing score — which, they point out, is stricter than what many law enforcement academies require.
I teach that course. I’m one of the state-approved instructors for it.
Since August, the number of emails and phone calls that I have received has tripled, and the sentiment is generally the same. This new law has got folks all fired up because it potentially leads to clients spending in the neighborhood of about $200–$400 before they even purchase a firearm.
What This Means for You — Either Way
Here’s the part that matters, and it’s the part people get wrong.
Nothing changes today. Every Colorado law is in force until a court says otherwise. A pending case is not a defense, and “the Supreme Court is hearing it” will not help you at a traffic stop or in a courtroom.
If you’re planning a purchase covered by SB25-003, the requirement stands now. Don’t sit on it waiting for a ruling. The injunction may be denied. Even if it’s granted, the state can appeal. And the Supreme Court’s answer, when it comes, is about whether a rifle can be banned — not about whether a state can require a course before you buy one. Those are related questions. They are not the same question.
Leave your pre-2013 magazines where they are. If you’re relying on the grandfather clause, the protection is continuous possession. Don’t sell or transfer them on the theory that the law is about to fall. It may not, and if it doesn’t, the transfer is the crime.
A win somewhere else doesn’t erase a Colorado law. If the Court rules that AR-15s are protected, it sets the standard every court has to apply. It doesn’t reach into Colorado and void SB25-003 or the magazine limit. Those laws would still have to be challenged here, under the new rule — which is exactly what Del Toro is already doing.
Watch the 28th. If the Court takes Duncan, magazine limits are in front of the Supreme Court for the first time.
This is a plain-English summary to help you follow what’s happening, not legal advice. I’m an instructor, not an attorney. Laws and court orders change — confirm current requirements with your county sheriff’s office or Colorado Parks and Wildlife before you act.
Why I’m Writing About This
Most of what I write here is about skill — how to carry, how to decide, how to stay alive in the parking lot. This one is about the ground those skills stand on.
The people who call me aren’t asking about Bruen. They’re asking whether they can still buy the rifle they wanted, whether the magazines in their safe are legal, and whether the class they’re about to take will still matter in six months.
The honest answer is: the rules you’re under today are the rules. Follow them. Take the course if you need it. Keep what you own the way the law says to keep it. And pay attention this fall, because for the first time in a long time, the answers are actually coming.
I’ll update this when the Court acts on the 28th, and again when Del Toro is decided.
John Rader
Colorado Tactics, LLC
Slow is smooth… Smooth is FAST!
720-464-SHOT | 720-464-7468
Sources
- SCOTUSblog — “Court grants several new cases, including on whether the Second Amendment protects possession of semiautomatic rifles” (June 30, 2026) — https://www.scotusblog.com/2026/06/court-grants-several-new-cases-including-on-whether-the-second-amendment-protects-possession-of-/
- Supreme Court of the United States — December 2026 argument calendar — https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_calendars/MonthlyArgumentCalDecember2026.pdf
- SCOTUSblog — “Court announces cases it will hear in December, including challenges to the constitutionality of bans on AR-15s” (September 4, 2026) — https://www.scotusblog.com/2026/09/court-announces-cases-it-will-hear-in-december-including-challenges-to-the-constitutionality-of-/
- Duke Center for Firearms Law — SCOTUS Gun Watch, July 27, 2026 (September 28 conference; Duncan v. Bonta) — https://firearmslaw.duke.edu/2026/07/scotus-gun-watch-7-27-2026
- C.R.S. 18-12-301, definitions (large-capacity magazine) — https://colorado.public.law/statutes/crs_18-12-301
- C.R.S. 18-12-302, large-capacity magazines prohibited; grandfather clause — https://colorado.public.law/statutes/crs_18-12-302
- Mountain States Legal Foundation — Del Toro v. Polis — https://mslegal.org/cases/del-toro-v-polis/
- Colorado Firearms Watch — Del Toro v. Polis docket and status — https://coloradofirearmswatch.org/litigation/del-toro-v-polis/
- KMS Newsroom — “Colorado State Shooting Association asks court to block SB25-003 permit scheme” (August 21, 2026) — https://kimmonson.com/news/colorado-shooting-association-injunction-motion-sb25-003/
- Colorado Public Radio — “Federal lawsuit challenges Colorado’s sweeping semiautomatic gun restrictions” (September 2, 2025) — https://www.cpr.org/2025/09/02/federal-lawsuit-colorado-gun-restrictions/
- Colorado Tactics — “Colorado SB25-003: What It Actually Does — and What It Costs You” — https://coloradotactics.com/colorado-sb25-003-what-it-actually-does/