Senate State, Veterans, & Military Affairs

Thursday, February 12, 2026·2h 49m·▶ Watch / Listen

The Senate State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Committee spent the entirety of its Feb 12, 2026 hearing on SB 26-043, a bill requiring firearm barrel transfers to be conducted in person through a licensed dealer. After hours of overwhelmingly opposed public testimony raising constitutional, practical, and enforcement objections, the committee advanced the bill 3-2 on a party-line vote.

Key Actions

·SB 26-043 – Regulation of Firearm Barrel TransfersPassed

Controversies

Whether the bill includes a background check mechanism

Supporters including Stephanie Greenberg and Rhiannon Danbourn stated the bill would require buyers to undergo a background check. Nephi Cole (National Shooting Sports Foundation) directly contradicted this: 'There's no background check component in this bill. In fact, there's no dealer support in this bill because you're talking about a non regulated item, non serialized item. And there's no component of this bill that ties any of this information back to CBI.' Justin Green (SDS Guns) further argued that NICS legally cannot be used for a barrel-only transfer, forcing FFLs to choose between violating state or federal law.

+ 5 more controversies

Notable Quotes

“There is no lawful mechanism in the NICS to run a background check on a barrel alone. NICS can only be used for the transfer of a firearm. If I run a NICS check outside of that scope, I violate federal policy and then I risk my ffl. So this bill forces every FFL in Colorado into a direct conflict. Comply with state law and risk violating federal law. Comply with state law or comply with federal law and violate state law. It's not theoretical, that is immediate, and that liability falls on us, the FFLs.”
Justin Green, owner of SDS Guns in Colorado Springs, Secretary of Colorado Federal Firearms License Association — Supporters of SB 26-043 argued the bill would ensure background checks on barrel purchasers by routing sales through licensed dealers; Green, an FFL, argued the federal NICS system has no legal mechanism for a barrel-only check, putting Colorado dealers in an impossible position.

+ 3 more quotes

Votes

Motion to move SB 26-043 to the Committee of the Whole with favorable recommendationPassed

Yes (3)William Lindstedt, Tom Sullivan, Katie Wallace

No (2)Rod Pelton, Lynda Zamora Wilson

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TranscriptPreview

Madam Chair, I had a prepared statement, but with the inundation of emails and voicemails to my office and text messaging, I wanted to share one of those, which is really kind of emblematic of the kinds of hatred and disgusting comments that show up. And now here at the General assembly, we have a new zoom process with our phones. So all of our voicemails are transcribed with AI. So they're all in there. All the cuss words have italicized in it. So I don't get those. You can hear those on the phone when you listen back to them. But this one here starts out with, hey, Tom Sullivan, Remove yourself from your political pulpit. Quit using your dead son as an overreach on gun control. You'll never eradicate the guns in America. Get it? And quit your BS Bill. You are taking illegal money, okay? So it's time for you to remove yourself before you go to prison. And she gives her name from Grand Junction. Again, not in my community. Not a member of a constituent of mine. Remove yourself free. Tina Peters. You guys are nothing but satanic evil mockeries of a really wonderful state.…

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