Permitless Carry, Lifetime Passes, and Local Rule Changes: Inside Colorado's New Gun Bill

The Bottom Line

This bill would let anyone 18 or older who can legally own a handgun carry it concealed in Colorado without getting a permit. It also turns existing concealed handgun permits into lifetime passes and strips local governments of their power to ban concealed weapons in public spaces. It's a massive shift in state gun laws that fundamentally changes how, where, and who can carry a firearm.

What This Bill Actually Does

Currently, to carry a concealed handgun in Colorado, you need a Concealed Handgun Permit (CHP), which requires a background check, a training class, and fees paid to your local sheriff. This bill proposes Constitutional Carry—meaning if you are at least 18 years old and legally allowed to possess a handgun under state and federal law, you have the exact same rights to carry it concealed as someone with a permit. You wouldn't need to take a class or pay a sheriff's fee to put a jacket over your holstered firearm.

The permit system wouldn't vanish entirely, because people still need permits to legally carry in other states that offer reciprocity (meaning they honor Colorado permits). However, the bill makes massive changes to how those remaining permits work. First, it lowers the minimum age to get a permit from 21 to 18. Second, it makes all permits—including the ones Coloradans currently hold—valid for the life of the permit holder. You would never have to renew it, retake a refresher class, or pay renewal fees again. It also repeals the state's temporary emergency permit system, since it would no longer be necessary.

Finally, the bill aggressively rolls back local control. Back in 2021, Colorado gave local governments the power to regulate firearms in their jurisdictions. This bill repeals the authority of cities, counties, special districts, and college or university governing boards to ban concealed handguns in their buildings or specific public areas. Local governments would still be allowed to ban the open carry of rifles and shotguns, but they would be explicitly barred from banning the open or concealed carry of handguns.

What It Means for You

If you own a handgun for self-defense, this bill fundamentally changes your checklist. You would no longer need to shell out over $100 in background check and fingerprinting fees, plus the cost of a training class, just to legally carry your weapon concealed under a coat. If you already have a permit, your maintenance chores are over. Under the bill, your current permit effectively becomes a lifetime permit. You can request a physical replacement card without an expiration date for just $15 from your local sheriff, and you'll never have to take another refresher course.

For parents, students, and everyday residents, this legislation significantly alters the landscape for public spaces. If you're a college student or the parent of one, you should know that university governing boards would lose their ability to ban concealed handguns on campus or in dorms. The same goes for your local rec center, library, or special district building. If a person is 18 and legally allowed to own the gun, they can carry it concealed in those locations, regardless of what the local town council or campus administration prefers.

The shift from 21 to 18 is also a massive change for young adults. Currently, 18-to-20-year-olds are generally restricted from concealed carry in Colorado. This bill opens up both permitless carry and the formal permit system to legal adults fresh out of high school. It's worth noting that federal law still restricts licensed dealers from selling handguns to anyone under 21. But for 18-year-olds who legally acquire a handgun through other permitted means—like a family transfer—the legal boundaries for carrying it concealed in public would vanish.

What It Means for Your Business

The most critical takeaway for private business owners is what this bill doesn't do: it doesn't strip your right to manage your own private property. If you own a restaurant, retail shop, or office building, you still retain the legal right to ban firearms on your private premises. However, if your business operates inside a government building, a special district facility, or on a college campus—like a contracted campus coffee shop or a vendor at a municipal rec center—the local government can no longer enforce a blanket concealed carry ban in your workspace.

If you run a firearms training academy, this legislation forces an immediate pivot in your business model. Currently, the state requires a training certificate to get an initial permit and to renew it every five years. By eliminating the training requirement for basic concealed carry within the state, and by making the remaining reciprocity permits valid for life, the recurring revenue from refresher classes and mandatory permit-qualifying courses would dry up. You would need to shift your marketing toward advanced tactical training, out-of-state reciprocity seekers, or voluntary safety courses.

For HR departments and commercial property managers, this is a good time to review your employee handbooks and workplace violence policies. Because the state would no longer require a permit to carry a concealed weapon, and because the legal age drops to 18, you may see an increase in employees or customers carrying firearms. Businesses that rely on crowd control—like event venues, bars, and private security firms—might need to review their entrance protocols. If you currently rely on local city ordinances to keep guns out of the public areas adjacent to your business, you'll need to physically post your own clear signage on your private entrances to maintain a gun-free zone.

Follow the Money

This is one of those rare bills that actually shrinks the state budget. By eliminating the need for mandatory concealed carry permits and dropping the renewal process entirely, the state expects to lose roughly $765,000 to $926,000 a year in fee revenue. This money normally comes from the $39.50 fingerprint background check fee and the $13 InstaCheck fee that applicants pay to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.

However, because the state won't be processing tens of thousands of those applications anymore, the Department of Public Safety will spend a lot less money. The state estimates it will cut expenditures by roughly $915,000 to $1.1 million annually, largely by eliminating 8 full-time positions at the state level. Local county sheriffs would see a similar dynamic: they'd lose the local application fees they charge to process permits, but they would also shed the heavy administrative workload of running those background checks and processing renewals. Finally, because the state would bring in less fee revenue, it actually frees up more General Fund money to be used for TABOR refunds to taxpayers.

Where This Bill Stands

HB26-1212 is currently Dead. The latest official action came on 04/07/2026: House Committee on Judiciary Postpone Indefinitely.

That means the bill is no longer advancing this session. In practice, measures that are postponed indefinitely or otherwise declared lost generally stay dead unless they are reintroduced in a future session.