How carry friendly is Colorado?

[Dustinthewind]

I spent last week tramping around the Colorado mountains. Before I went there I ascertained that my Kansas CCH permit was reciprocal with Colorado. On my way back to Kansas I stopped in Aurora to visit a friend. Before entering his house I told him that I was packing and asked if he minded. No problem with him, but he started telling me horror stories from Colorado permit holders and how a number of them had been harrassed during minor traffic stops and he was telling me that permits are hard to acquire in Colorado. He also told me that laws varied by county. From what I read of the laws Colorado seemed pretty much in line with Kansas law. On a side note, I stopped in the Wal-Mart in Salida to get some salmon eggs for my son to trout fish with and was surprised that they carried smokeless powder, hornady bullets, brass, primers, dies, presses and all with the exception of the primers were sitting out where you could grab them.

 

[ftierson]

Except for the city of Denver, Colorado is pretty carry friendly...

I never go to Denver anymore...



Forrest

 

[Cuda]

Colorado is cool. I'm from Elpaso county south of Denver, 8 days for my permit and a thank you for getting it from the top Sherriff...

As ftierson said Denver is a different story. I only go there to eat once in a while.

C

 

[CWL]

Boulder is not so friendly.

 

[Fred Fuller]

they carried smokeless powder, hornady bullets, brass, primers, dies, presses and all with the exception of the primers were sitting out where you could grab them.

Same thing for the one in Cortez- seeing it really warmed the cockles of my heart. We just got back from spending several days in SW Colorado- Cortez and Ouray mostly- and had a great trip. I carried on a NC permit the whole time we were out there (save for visits to Hovenweep and Mesa Verde) with no issues.

lpl/nc

 

[Dravur]

I live in Boulder County

and it was easy as pie getting my ccw. Now, carruying in Boulder and someone there made you, then the little hippie would prolly call the police and go catatonic on the spot. They just aren't used to it there. Oddly enough, the highest concentration of class III materials is located in Boulder county.

But as long as you aren't made in Denver or Boulder, carrying in the state is great.

 

[zeroskillz]

I've carried around several of the ski resorts (well not while skiing anyhow) and have had no problems. Granted, I was never 'made', but took faith in my states reciprocity agreements.

 

[Taurus 617 CCW]

The moron governor voted last year that residents of colorado can't purchase an out of state permit anymore. You have to get the colorado permit and when you do it puts you on a "person of interest" list with the police department. That's why people are getting harrassed during minor traffic stops. The person of interest list includes CHL holders, felons, people with warrants out for their arrest, traffic violations, etc. They also put your name in a database that is publically accessible. No thanks.

 

[230RN]

The way I understand it...

At present Denver allows the permitted carry of concealed weapons, but will cite you for carrying openly. They sued under their Home Rule philosphy and the Colorado Supreme Court came out kind of wishy-washy on it such that their Home Rule philosphy regarding open carry was upheld, but the split vote could not be held as precendent.

I suspect, but cannot state with authority, that Boulder jumped on this decision and also will not allow open carry but recognizes permitted concealed carry.

With respect to the myriad little towns around here, like Greenwood Village, Mountain View, Lakeside, etc. which are surrounded by other municipalities (Mountain View, for example, is only about six blocks by three blocks in the middle of Wheat Ridge), I cannot say.

Somebody feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

I have long wanted to write to each of these varied municipal entities from my POB to inquire as to their individual policies respecting open versus concealed carry, permitted carry in their dozens of little parks and trails, etc as a kind of weekend project.

Maybe it's time I did this and published the compiled results to here and PDO (if it ever gets on line again).

In the meantime, I recommend the "bottom line": Keep it concealed

 

[Superpsy]

and when you do it puts you on a "person of interest" list with the police department.

Correct me if I'm wrong but...I think being put on that list is only done by certain county sheriffs. (I'm a recent CO res.)

http://www.rmgo.org/alerts/2007-ccic.shtml

 

[redneckrepairs]

You have to get the colorado permit and when you do it puts you on a "person of interest" list with the police department. That's why people are getting harrassed during minor traffic stops. The person of interest list includes CHL holders, felons, people with warrants out for their arrest, traffic violations, etc. They also put your name in a database that is publically accessible. No thanks.

You are mistaken . Colorado did just establish a database of ccw that sheriffs must now enter ccw holders into . This is only an administrative database for the state and in fact a ccw will not at this point even return on a dl check . The database is NOT public in any way . Folks in the cesspool of the denver area are being harassed because they are in the denver area , its not really part of colorado you know .

 

[PaulCSomething]

Getting the CO permit is easy.

I actually got pulled over by a Denver cop in downtown Denver. In fact it has been my only contact with a LEO sense getting my permit. Everything went fine.
I didn't inform him of my permit or gun, however he saw the permit when I opened my wallet and asked if I was a officer. I told him no.
He asked if I had a gun with me. I told him I did.
He asked what kind of gun I had. I told him a springfield .45 1911.
This is where it gets really strange. He asked me how I liked it! So here I am, in my car, on the street, in downtown Denver, with a gun in the car, chatting guns with a cop. He was very professional and respectful.
My how times have changed now that we have CCW.
P.S. I didn’t get a ticket. I had a good excuse for my license plate being 3 years out of registration. I think having current insurance on it helped though.

 

[Zundfolge]

...he started telling me horror stories from Colorado permit holders and how a number of them had been harrassed during minor traffic stops...

Thats the way it used to be in Denver, not the rest of the state. Those days are gone now.

 

[zeroskillz]

Paul, had the same experience in New Mexico with a LEO. Talked guns for a bit, but then we had a bit of time to talk--we had just wrecked our Jeep on ice...

 

[george_co]

Denver Home Rule

It is my understanding that Denver is a special Home Rule City. It is actually written into the State Constitution by name. All other Colorado Home Rule cities are not. This then becomes the rub, and why Denver can get away with things that even other Home Rule Cities can't.

And regarding the original question - Colorado is very gun friendly overall.

Regarding the database - While I don't like the database, it may allow us to have reciprocity with Nevada and other states who require that there be a 24 hour a day process to verify the validity of a license. Without the database we would not have any chance of reciprocity with Nevada without the database.

Just my thoughts and contribution.

George_Co

 

[anotherKevin]

I just came back from there, OC'ing because a Democrat invalidated my UT non-res. I got the impression that firearms were just a non-issue. I spoke at some length about it with a Ranger who just took it for granted that just about everyone was armed, pretty much most of the time.

I never stopped in Denver for much. The Ranger I spoke to said he would rather leave the state than move to Denver.

 

[The-Fly]

I think the OP's friend is smoking something, because CCW permits are not hard to get here (take the class, fill out the paperwork, wait a bit, and you'll have the permit).

As far as where you can and cant carry, CO is one of the best states around. Far better then KS in that regard.

 

[Car Knocker]

The moron governor voted last year that residents of colorado can't purchase an out of state permit anymore.

That just doesn't make sense.

 

[anotherKevin]

That just doesn't make sense

The new Governor is a Democrat.

For additional reference, see the fable: scorpion, frog, river crossing.

 

[Car Knocker]

No, the point was that the Governor signed a bill that was passed by the Legislature but he certainly didn't "vote last year that residents of colorado can't purchase an out of state permit anymore." The Governor may be a Democrat but he certainly didn't do this singlehandedly - the majority of the Legislature concurred.

 

[TallPine]

residents of colorado can't purchase an out of state permit anymore

I don't believe that's exactly true - it's just that the out of state permit would not be valid for carry in CO.

 

[Standing Wolf]

I carry openly about half the time in El Paso county. About once a year, someone notices.

 

[ScottE]

Denver is not that bad....

I have lived in Denver all my life, and most of the bad things I hear about Denver are on forums like this written by people that have never lived here.

To get my CCW, I took a 4 hour class where a NRA instructor talked about the different CCW laws, stories of CCW incidents, and other BS not related to CCW. He said Colorado only requires a person to take a class taught by a certified instructor, and that he could talk about anything he wanted. There was no shooting, no gun handling, nothing.

When I went to the Denver Police Department to apply for the permit, I never talked to a police officer, only a volunteer who helps fill out paperwork and take fingerprints. A few months later, Denver sent me a letter telling me to pick up my CCW.

I do however, question some of the things Denver government does. The citizens of Denver have voted to pass laws that would go against state laws, and Denver claims they are required to follow the state law. But with the open-carry law, Denver claims that it does not need to follow state law. Which is it?

 

[PurplePeopleEater]

Just so everyone knows, you can open carry in Boulder. I have done it multiple times. The only time I was asked to remove my weapon was at the Public Library where a very friendly librarian asked if I was LE or armed security. Responding in the negative, she asked if I would mind securing my pistol in a lockbox at her desk. Since she was so courteous and friendly, I did so.

Denver, Parker, and Breckenridge are the only towns that prohibit open carry.

Check out the Rocky Mountain Gun Owner's website for more information on carry laws.

 

[GJgo]

I live on the Western Slope. As with most of CO it is a very gun friendly area. As I recall from when I took the (excellent) carry course that is offered here, something like 4% of the county population has a CCW permit.. LEOs are pleasant to deal with here as long as you are up front and honest.