Colorado kept its semiauto permit-to-purchase scheme in force. On November 4, 2026, Senior U.S. District Judge William J. Martínez denied a preliminary injunction in Del Toro v. Polis. The order does more than leave a licensing regime standing. It holds that the challengers failed, at Bruen step one, to show that the covered rifles, shotguns, and handguns are protected “arms” at all.
What SB 25-003 Actually Requires
Colorado’s Senate Bill 25-003 was signed on April 10, 2025. The purchase restrictions took effect August 1, 2026. Covered guns include semiautomatic rifles and shotguns with detachable magazines, plus certain gas-operated semiautomatic handguns with detachable magazines. The statute lists exclusions for rimfire and other action types.
The scheme has two gates. First, a sheriff-issued eligibility card: government ID, a third-party background check, attestations, and a fee. Then a state-approved in-person course—about four hours paired with hunter education, or an extended course of at least twelve hours. Course results go into a Colorado Parks and Wildlife database that dealers check before the sale.
Coverage of the order and the statute appears in Gun Gravy’s report and Bearing Arms.
The Holding: Common Use Is Not Enough
Under Bruen, the challenger must show that the Second Amendment’s text covers the conduct and the arms at issue. Judge Martínez agreed the plaintiffs are part of “the people” and that acquiring a firearm is protected conduct. He stopped them on whether the guns themselves count as protected “arms.”
The plaintiffs pointed to Colorado’s sweep—hundreds of models, including the AR-15—and to the Supreme Court’s recognition of that platform’s popularity. The court treated common use as necessary but not sufficient. Popularity alone, on this record, did not clear step one. The order also notes a circuit split: the Third Circuit has treated semiautomatic rifles as “arms,” while other circuits have gone the other way.
That framing matters far beyond Denver. If the gun owner must prove the rifle is an “arm” before the state ever has to defend the law with history, the most popular rifle in America can still lose at the threshold.
Second Ground: “Shall-Issue”
Independently, the court called the Colorado scheme a “shall-issue” licensing system and treated it as presumptively constitutional under Bruen. Shall-issue usually means meet the objective criteria and the official must issue. The plaintiffs argued that the sheriff’s “reasonable belief” denial power turns the law into discretionary may-issue. The court disagreed, writing that discretion under SB 25-003 is the exception, not the rule.
A shall-issue label does not immunize abusive delays or fees. On this preliminary record, the court found the early-implementation evidence insufficient to show that kind of abuse.
December 2: The Same Question at SCOTUS
On December 2, 2026, the Supreme Court hears Viramontes v. Cook County (No. 25-238) and Grant v. Higgins (No. 25-566) on whether AR-15-platform and similar semiautomatic rifles are protected. Duke’s Center for Firearms Law tracks the docket here: SCOTUS Gun Watch (11/02/2026).
That is the same “are these arms?” question that decided the Colorado injunction. This post does not predict how the Court will vote.
Why Pennsylvania Gun Owners Should Care
Pennsylvania has no assault-weapons ban and no semiauto permit-to-purchase card. Colorado’s model is the likely fallback if outright bans fall: keep the guns “legal,” but put a sheriff card, a state curriculum, and a dealer database between the buyer and the counter.
That is a structural warning, not a forecast of any Harrisburg bill. It also is not a statement about what Tree of Liberty will sell, transfer, deny, or do. It reports what one federal court did on a preliminary record, and where the national checkpoint sits.
Bottom Line
This is a preliminary-injunction denial, not a final judgment. Dismissal and standing issues remain pending. For now, Colorado’s permit-to-purchase rules stay in force, and a district court has said the challengers failed to prove the covered guns are protected “arms.” Watch December 2.
This post is informational news and analysis, not individualized legal advice.