Colorado gun laws for non-residents and visitors

Last verified against primary sources: 2026-07-20 · Updated 2026-07-20

Possession and open carry: no residency test

Colorado's core carry offense, C.R.S. § 18-12-105, criminalizes carrying a firearm concealed without an exception (and carrying into the legislative buildings). Nowhere does it — or the rest of Article 12 — condition merely possessing or openly carrying a firearm on Colorado residency. A visitor is subject to the same rules as a resident, including the disqualifying-person rules (felons, subjects of protection orders, and so on) under state and federal law.

Practically, that means a visitor can lawfully possess and openly carry a firearm in most public places on the same footing as a resident. But open carry can still be limited by local ordinance in some jurisdictions (Colorado repealed statewide firearms preemption in 2021), and is barred in specific locations — schools, courthouses, the legislative buildings, posted private property, and federal facilities. See open carry in Colorado and where you can't carry for those location rules.

Concealed carry for visitors: usually no, unless you have the right permit

Two statutes decide this, and together they close most doors for out-of-state visitors.

First, Colorado only honors an out-of-state permit under strict conditions. The permit must be from a state that also recognizes Colorado permits (two-way reciprocity), the holder must be 21 or older, and — critically — the permit must have been issued to the holder as a resident of the issuing state:

That resident-permit requirement is a common tripwire: a non-resident permit — for example a Utah or Florida non-resident permit obtained by someone who lives in a third state — does not satisfy § 18-12-213(1)(b)(I), because that clause requires the permit to have issued to a resident of the issuing state. Whether any given state currently qualifies for reciprocity turns on Colorado's live reciprocity list, which the Colorado Bureau of Investigation maintains and updates independently of the statute. We keep that list on the Colorado concealed carry reciprocity page.

Second, a visitor cannot simply apply for a Colorado permit instead. Colorado issues concealed-handgun permits only to Colorado residents:

The only wrinkle is for service members: someone stationed in Colorado on permanent-duty-station orders (and their Colorado-resident immediate family) is deemed a legal resident and can apply. Everyone else who wants a Colorado permit has to establish residency first. There is one carry option that does not depend on any of this, though — the vehicle exception below.

The vehicle exception every traveler gets

Colorado lets anyone — resident or visitor, permit or no permit — carry a handgun in a private vehicle for lawful self-protection. It sits in two places at once: as an express exception to the concealed-carry offense, and as a rule that such carry is not even "concealed" for permit purposes.

This applies to handguns. It is the most dependable option for a visitor who cannot carry concealed on their person. See Colorado gun laws in a vehicle for the full vehicle rules, including the separate empty-chamber rule for long guns.

Driving through Colorado: FOPA safe passage

If you are only transporting firearms through the state — from one place you may lawfully possess them to another — federal law provides a "safe passage" protection, provided the gun is unloaded and inaccessible from the passenger compartment.

Safe passage protects the act of passing through. It does not authorize carrying once you have arrived and stopped at your Colorado destination — that is governed by the state rules above. And it does not override Colorado's magazine ban, discussed next.

The magazine trap for travelers

This is the rule most likely to catch an out-of-state visitor off guard. Colorado bans possessing a "large-capacity magazine" — generally one holding more than 15 rounds — statewide. Unlike the concealed-carry rules, this is a possession offense, and there is no exception for tourists or people just driving through.

The only carve-out is the grandfather clause, and it protects magazines owned on July 1, 2013 and continuously possessed since — a defense that, by its nature, a visiting out-of-state owner almost never fits for a magazine bought elsewhere after that date. A magazine lawfully purchased in another state after July 1, 2013 is still an unlawful possession the moment you bring it into Colorado. The penalty is now a class 1 misdemeanor (raised from class 2 by SB25-003, effective April 10, 2025). See Colorado's 15-round magazine limit for the full rule.

What August 1, 2026 changes — and does not — for visitors

Colorado's SB25-003 takes effect August 1, 2026 and is widely misunderstood by travelers. Its operative prohibition is written around transactions, not possession:

If you do want to buy a covered firearm while in Colorado on or after August 1, 2026, the eligibility-card and safety-course requirements apply. Those steps, the covered/exempt firearm list, and the current court-challenge status are all on the August 1, 2026 gun law hub.

Flying into or out of Colorado with a gun

The TSA rules are federal and identical at Denver International and every other U.S. airport: firearms travel unloaded, locked in a hard-sided case, as checked baggage only — never in a carry-on — and must be declared to the airline each time.

Ammunition is prohibited in carry-on baggage but may travel in checked baggage; magazines and ammunition, whether loaded or empty, must be securely boxed or packed inside the hard-sided case with the unloaded firearm, and small-arms ammunition may ride in the same locked case as the gun if boxed as required. Bringing a firearm to a checkpoint without following the checked-baggage/declare process can trigger TSA civil penalties and possible criminal charges — and remember Colorado's magazine limit still applies to any magazine you fly in with.

Hunting and long guns in a vehicle

A visitor hunting in Colorado, or anyone driving with a rifle or shotgun, must keep the chamber unloaded while it is in or on the vehicle. Handguns are expressly excluded from this particular rule (they are governed by the concealed-carry framework above).

National parks in Colorado

Colorado has several National Park Service units — Rocky Mountain, Mesa Verde, Great Sand Dunes, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, and others. Inside the outdoor areas of those parks, firearm possession is governed by Colorado state law (the rules above), under the federal 2010 possession-per-state-law rule.

One firm federal limit stands apart from state law: firearms are barred inside federal buildings within a park, regardless of Colorado carry rules.

Marijuana and guns

Colorado legalized recreational and medical marijuana at the state level, but that does not change federal firearms law. Any current unlawful user of marijuana is a federally prohibited person for firearms and ammunition — the same for a visiting out-of-state cardholder as for a Colorado resident.

Because marijuana remains a federally controlled substance, its state legality does not create a firearms exception. This is covered in full, including the federal purchase-form certification, on marijuana and guns in Colorado.