The Colorado Bureau of Investigation ran nearly three times as many background checks for people buying guns in July as it did in the same month last year, indicating a spike in gun sales as Coloradans tried to get ahead of a new licensing requirement for some pistols and rifles.
CBI reported 59,452 background checks in July 2026, up from about 20,000 in July 2025. Toward the end of the month, the agency was running in a day. In July 2025, the agency barely cracked 1,000 a day at the highest points of that month. The background checks are a required part of buying a gun.
The surge in background checks preceded going into full effect on Saturday. The new law applies to people looking to buy — weapons popularly conceived of as assault-style rifles.
They must first obtain an eligibility card from a sheriff’s office and pass a course taught by a certified instructor. The new requirement stacks with existing background check and waiting period requirements.
In an interview, CBI Director Armando Saldate III praised his staff for completing all background checks within the 72-hour waiting period for buying guns.
CBI added 20 people to its background check team, doubling the staff. He said they were still stretched about as far as they could go. He expected the demand for the InstaCheck background checks to drop in August and look closer to historic averages in coming months.
“We understand that with this new law, and with the new parameters, with the training, with the permitting requirements, that by Aug. 1, all of the transactions had to be completed,” Saldate said. “We were really trying to do our part to make sure we weren’t part of a problem that reared its head once this implementation started.”
Critics of the new law argue it adds hundreds of dollars in costs and onerous bureaucratic requirements for people trying to exercise their Second Amendment rights. Backers counter that the new law will make sure people are properly trained in safe handling and storage before accessing the weapons.
The new law is the latest in a series of restrictions passed by the legislature in recent years under the umbrella of gun violence prevention.
