Do private gun sales need a background check in Colorado?

The rule: route the transfer through a dealer

An unlicensed person selling or giving a firearm to another private party cannot simply hand it over. The statute puts the duty on the seller to arrange the check:

shall arrange for a licensed gun dealer to obtain the background check required by this section

The buyer, in turn, may not take the gun until CBI has cleared the transfer:

shall not accept possession of the firearm unless the prospective firearm transferor has obtained approval of the transfer from the bureau.

How it works in practice

• The two parties bring the firearm to a licensed dealer, who runs the same CBI background check used for a retail sale and must "record the transfer and retain the records in the same manner as when conducting a sale, rental, or exchange at retail."
• The dealer gives both parties a copy of the results, "including the bureau's approval or disapproval of the transfer."
• An approved transfer is "valid for thirty calendar days."
• A dealer may charge up to a $10 statutory fee for facilitating a private transfer under § 18-12-112; CBI separately charges its own background-check fee (raised to $15 effective March 1, 2025).
• The same statute bars an unlicensed seller from making or facilitating "the sale of a firearm to a person who is less than twenty-one years of age" — the private-sale companion to Colorado's age-21 purchase rule.

Exemptions: sales that do not require a check

Colorado's statute lists specific transfers that are exempt from the private-transfer background-check requirement:

• Immediate family — transfers between "spouses, parents, children, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, first cousins, aunts, and uncles."
• Antiques and collectibles — transfer of an "antique firearm" or a "curio or relic," as those terms are federally defined.
• Temporary, supervised transfers — at a shooting range, in an organized competition, or while hunting or fishing, where the person receiving the gun is not prohibited from possessing firearms.
• Repair or gunsmithing — where everyone who handles the firearm may legally possess one.
• Brief loans — a "temporary transfer for not more than seventy-two hours."
• Continuous presence — a temporary transfer that happens while the gun stays in the continuous presence of its owner.
• Military deployment — a transfer to immediate family by a service member deploying overseas within 30 days.

Penalty

Violating the private-transfer background-check requirement is a class 2 misdemeanor, and a conviction carries a two-year firearm-possession prohibition.

Common questions

Can I sell a gun to a private party in Colorado without a background check?

Only if the sale is one of the listed exemptions — such as a transfer to an immediate family member, an antique or curio/relic, or a loan of 72 hours or less. Otherwise you must route the sale through a licensed dealer for a CBI background check (C.R.S. § 18-12-112).

Do I need a background check to give a gun to a family member in Colorado?

No, if the family member is within the statutory list — spouses, parents, children, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, first cousins, aunts, and uncles. Transfers to those relatives are exempt from the private-transfer background-check requirement.

How much does a private transfer background check cost in Colorado?

A licensed dealer may charge up to a $10 statutory fee to facilitate the transfer under § 18-12-112, and CBI charges its own background-check fee, which increased to $15 effective March 1, 2025.

What happens if you sell a gun without the required background check in Colorado?

It is a class 2 misdemeanor, and a conviction results in a two-year prohibition on possessing firearms.

When did Colorado start requiring background checks on private sales?

July 1, 2013, under HB13-1229. The statute was amended in 2023 to add the age-21 restriction on private transfers.