By Heather Willard | Fox31
DENVER (KDVR) — U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi was sent a formal letter on Monday urging a Department of Justice investigation into the state of Colorado’s gun laws, specifically citing a newly signed law that Second Amendment advocates have called an infringement on their rights.
The letter was sent by the Colorado State Shooting Association, which is the official state association of the National Rifle Association. The groups announced immediately after Gov. Jared Polis signed the bill into law that they would be filing a lawsuit against the measure.
“We respectfully request that the Second Amendment Enforcement Task Force launch a thorough investigation into Colorado’s anti-Second Amendment agenda, focusing on the following,” the group wrote.
The task force was created earlier this month. Bondi said in a release that the task force was aimed at advancing President Donald Trump’s “pro-gun agenda and protect gun owners from overreach.”
Huey Laugesen, executive director of the Colorado State Shooting Association, told FOX31’s Nate Belt that alongside the letter, the association has collected voters’ signatures. As of Monday, Laugesen said they had collected “tens of thousands.”
“When we have government coming in and putting in insurmountable obstacles for a lot of people, and particularly low-income individuals who are much more likely to be victimized by violent criminals, that’s a major problem. That’s some serious overreach,” Laugesen told Belt. “We won’t stand for it because it’s a very dangerous path that we’re headed down.”
The letter went on to reference many gun laws in Colorado enacted since 2021 and some municipal codes in Denver and Boulder. The letter also noted that 37 Colorado counties “have declared themselves to be ‘Second Amendment Sanctuaries’ in an attempt to oppose or resist the state’s efforts to undermine or effectively deny their rights.”
Colorado’s Senate Bill 3 will go into effect in August 2026. It will require anyone seeking to buy a semiautomatic firearm with a detachable magazine to have obtained a permit, which requires a background check through county sheriff offices and training that will be provided through Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
The measure also expanded on Colorado’s ban on rapid-fire conversion devices, no longer allowing the sale or purchase of bump stocks or other conversion devices in the state.