Where you can legally target shoot in Colorado

Shooting ranges: the clear, reliable option

When the public-land answer is unclear, go to a listed range. The shooting area and backstop are already defined, and a staffed range has a Range Safety Officer watching the line. New shooters should start here.

• CPW maintains an official finder of public shooting ranges across the state.
• Check before leaving: hours, fees, allowed firearms, ammunition rules, supervision, and closures differ by range.
• Beginners: choose a staffed range and ask about instruction or rentals before the visit.

Visiting from out of state? The same land rules and current orders apply. Target shooting itself does not require a Colorado hunting license, but travel and transport rules can add another layer. A staffed range that rents equipment is the simplest first stop. Call ahead to confirm what it provides.

Fire restrictions, targets, and ammunition

This is where target shooting and Colorado's wildfire risk collide:

• Read the current order, not just the fire-stage name. Forest Service, BLM, county, and local orders can use different dates, boundaries, equipment limits, and exceptions. The order for the exact spot controls. See the camping guide for the broader fire-restriction system.
• National Forest rules bar tracer bullets and incendiary ammunition. A local forest order may add exploding targets, steel targets, or other ammunition. The Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests, for example, prohibit explosive or exploding targets under their shooting rules.
• BLM guidance uses a different list. It says not to use plastic pellets, tracer rounds, exploding rounds, or steel-core rounds. Field offices and fire orders may add more restrictions.
• If the order or ammunition rule is unclear, stop and ask. Call the land manager or use a staffed range that confirms it is open and tells you what it allows.

Leave No Trace at the shooting site

Litter, damaged signs and trees, unsafe backstops, and conflicts near homes all put public shooting access at risk. The part each visitor can control is simple: leave the site cleaner than you found it.

• Pack out everything you bring: spent casings and brass, target frames, shotgun hulls, clay fragments, and any trash.
• Use only targets the manager or range allows. Never use appliances, electronics, glass, or anything you will not fully remove.
• Do not use trees, signs, buildings, or other public property as targets. Under BLM's current guidance, damaging those objects is illegal. Avoid rocks and other solid objects because a bullet can ricochet.
• Do not shoot where you will not clean up. If you can safely carry out old target trash too, that helps the next visitor and the land manager.

Colorado gun laws: the outdoor basics

Not legal advice. This is an overview of the rules that matter most when you head out. Colorado firearm law changes through statutes, court orders, and agency procedures. Confirm the current rule with the Colorado General Assembly, CPW, your county sheriff, or a qualified attorney before you act.

Carrying

• Concealed carry generally requires a valid Concealed Handgun Permit. Under Colorado's current CHP law, applicants must be at least 21 and meet the statutory criteria. The sheriff checks eligibility and may consider documented safety concerns. Since July 1, 2025, an initial permit also requires at least eight hours of in-person training from a sheriff-verified instructor, including a written exam and live-fire exercise. Renewals use a shorter refresher course.
• Open carry is generally allowed under state law for a person who may lawfully possess the firearm, but local governments can restrict it in posted areas. Denver prohibits open carry. Check the local rule before relying on the statewide starting point.
• Sensitive spaces have separate rules for open and concealed carry. Government buildings, courthouses, schools, colleges, child-care centers, and polling places can fall under these limits, with detailed exceptions. Check the current statute and the rules for the exact building before carrying.

In your vehicle

• Handgun: Colorado generally allows a lawfully possessed handgun in a private vehicle for lawful protection. Other possession limits and sensitive-place rules still apply.
• Rifle or shotgun: Colorado wildlife law requires an unloaded chamber in a motor vehicle. A muzzleloader has its own definition of unloaded. See C.R.S. 33-6-125 before relying on a summary.
• Unattended vehicle: the vehicle generally must be locked, and the firearm must be in a locked container, trunk, or locked recreational vehicle. Under Colorado's current storage law, a handgun must be in a locked hard-sided container and out of plain view. A non-handgun may use a hard- or soft-sided container, but a soft case needs a locking device on the firearm. The law includes exceptions, so check the current official summary.

Buying & owning (the basics)

A few Colorado basics:

• The waiting period is generally the longer of three days after the seller starts the background check or the time it takes to receive approval.
• Colorado law generally bars a firearm sale or purchase involving a person under 21, with statutory exceptions. Court orders can affect enforcement.
• Most sales, including most private sales, require a background check through a licensed dealer. Limited exceptions apply.
• Colorado generally limits magazines to 15 rounds, with exceptions including continuous possession of a magazine owned before July 1, 2013.

Each rule has definitions and exceptions, and court orders can change enforcement. Use the General Assembly's current firearms summary as the starting point for a real decision.

Starting August 1, 2026: SB25-003

SB25-003 creates a new process for purchasing or transferring a covered specified semiautomatic firearm on or after August 1, 2026. CPW opened the Firearms Safety System application on July 20, 2026. The current order is: submit the application, complete the county sheriff's document and name-check process, receive an eligibility card if approved, take the correct CPW-approved course, and have the dealer verify eligibility. A person with qualifying hunter education may use the four-hour basic course. Otherwise, the extended course is 12 hours over two days. Concealed-carry training does not replace this course.

County intake procedures and fees differ, and CPW says some sheriffs are not reviewing applications before August 1 or are not accepting them. The law has detailed firearm definitions and exceptions. It governs covered purchases and transfers on or after the effective date; CPW says it does not apply just because someone already lawfully owns a firearm. Check CPW's live page and your county sheriff before applying or transferring.