Governor Jared Polis signed HB26-1265 into law last week. The new law makes Colorado the first state to require law enforcement agencies to register with eTrace and opt in to eTrace’s feature that helps quickly identify firearms and generate leads for gun-related crimes.
Under the new law, agencies are now required to record information into eTrace when they:
- Recover or confiscate firearms in connection with a criminal investigation,
- Seize or forfeit firearms in connection with domestic violence crimes, and
- Obtain an abandoned or discarded firearm.
Law enforcement agencies can submit trace requests through eTrace to quickly determine a firearm’s origin, helping identify potential firearms traffickers and suspects in criminal investigations. Nearly 640,000 firearm trace requests were completed in fiscal year 2024.
Last year, the Trump Administration revoked a policy that prevented gun dealers from selling guns to criminals. It also proposed a $400 million cut to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, putting more pressure on states to address firearm trafficking. The lack of federal action has consequences: Last week a man purchased a gun in Gillette, Wyo, where he lived part time, and committed a shooting spree in Montrose, CO. The man shot himself after shooting, seemingly at random, from his car. One person was hospitalized. No waiting period is required on gun purchases in Wyoming.
Polis separately vetoed HB26-1255, which would have required social media platforms to notify law enforcement about certain flagged content within 24 hours and allow law enforcement agencies to contact platforms at any time to process search warrants.
The bill was passed in response to the Evergreen High School shooting. It was found that the shooter had posted warning signs on social media. Polis said that while he appreciated the bill’s intent, he worried it infringed on First Amendment rights.
“Under the First Amendment, there is well established case law regarding unprotected speech, including speech that contains incitement of violence or lawless actions and true threats,” Polis wrote in his veto letter. “The loss of constitutional freedom, even for a moment, is an irreparable injury to an individual and to our democracy.”