Can an 18-year-old buy a gun in Colorado?
Last verified against primary sources: · Updated
No. Under SB23-169, Colorado raised the minimum age to purchase any firearm from 18 to 21, so an 18-, 19-, or 20-year-old generally cannot buy a gun in Colorado from a dealer or a private seller. Buying is different from possessing: an 18-year-old is not a "juvenile" for Colorado's handgun-possession law and may lawfully possess firearms in most circumstances. The distinction — you can hold one at 18, but you cannot buy one until 21 — is the key to this question.
Buying: 21 and up
SB23-169, "Increasing Minimum Age to Purchase Firearms," makes it unlawful to sell or deliver a firearm to anyone under 21. What the research confirms:
- It raised the legal firearm-purchase age in Colorado from 18 to 21.
- An under-21 purchase, or facilitating such a sale, is a class 2 misdemeanor.
- Exceptions: active-duty members of the U.S. armed forces, and peace officers or persons who are P.O.S.T.-certified.
- It was signed April 28, 2023 and, with no safety clause, took effect August 7, 2023.
The rule reaches private sales too. Colorado's private-transfer statute (C.R.S. § 18-12-112) separately 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."
Litigation history, resolved in the law's favor. The age-21 purchase law was blocked on the day it was to take effect — on August 7, 2023, U.S. District Judge Philip Brimmer granted a preliminary injunction. But on November 5, 2024, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and ordered the injunction dissolved, holding that age conditions on the commercial sale of arms fall within the "presumptively lawful" category the Supreme Court identified in Heller. As of our July 20, 2026 check, the age-21 purchase requirement is in force and enforceable — the 2023 injunction is gone and nothing indicates it has been re-imposed. Any further appeal (for example, a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court) was not confirmed in our sources, so we do not state one either way.
Possessing: the line is age 18, not 21
Colorado's ban on juveniles possessing handguns defines "juvenile" as someone under 18 — not under 21:
It is unlawful for any person who has not attained the age of eighteen years knowingly to have any handgun in such person's possession.
So an 18-to-20-year-old is past the handgun-possession age floor — the possession ban targets those under 18. The under-18 handgun ban is a class 2 misdemeanor for a first offense, and "for any second or subsequent offense, illegal possession of a handgun by a juvenile is a class 5 felony." Even for those under 18, the statute lists exceptions — including attending a hunter-safety or firearms-safety course; target shooting at an authorized range; organized competition; hunting or trapping under a valid license; traveling to or from those activities with the handgun unloaded; being on real property controlled by a parent, guardian, or grandparent with permission; and possessing a handgun for self-defense at the juvenile's residence with parental permission under Colorado's use-of-force statutes.
Bottom line
An 18-year-old in Colorado generally cannot buy a firearm (the purchase age is 21, with military and peace-officer exceptions), but can possess firearms — the handgun-possession ban applies only to people under 18. Federal purchase rules and firearm eligibility rules apply on top of Colorado law; see what disqualifies you from owning a gun in Colorado.
Common questions
Can a 20-year-old buy a rifle in Colorado?
No. Colorado's age-21 purchase law (SB23-169) applies to all firearms, not just handguns, so a 20-year-old generally cannot buy a rifle. The exceptions are active-duty military and peace officers/P.O.S.T.-certified persons.
Can an 18-year-old own or possess a gun in Colorado?
Generally yes — possession is different from purchase. Colorado's handgun-possession ban applies to people under 18 (C.R.S. § 18-12-108.5), so an 18-to-20-year-old is above that age floor and may lawfully possess firearms, even though they cannot buy one until 21.
How can an 18-year-old legally get a gun in Colorado?
Because possession is legal at 18 but purchase is not until 21, an 18-to-20-year-old typically comes to possess a firearm through a lawful, non-purchase route — for example a gift or transfer from an immediate family member, which is exempt from the private-transfer background-check requirement. Active-duty military and peace officers are also excepted from the purchase-age rule.
Is Colorado’s age-21 gun purchase law still in effect?
Yes, as of our July 20, 2026 check. It was briefly enjoined in 2023, but the Tenth Circuit dissolved that injunction on November 5, 2024, and the law is enforceable now.