C.R.S. § 39-37-101 Short title
39-37-101. Short title. The short title of this article 37 is the "Crime Victim and Survivor Services Funding and Mental Health Security Act".
Firearms and Ammunition Excise Tax
C.R.S. tit. 39, art. 37
in effectC.R.S. § 39-37-102 Legislative declaration
39-37-102. Legislative declaration. (1) The general assembly finds and declares that:
(a) Colorado needs consistent and reliable funding from the state to sustain the services crime victims depend on, including wraparound services, housing assistance, legal advocacy, emergency shelter, long-term safe housing, case management, on-site crisis response, emergency financial assistance, counseling, and more;
(b) Inconsistent and fluctuating funding hurts victim and survivor service providers alike. Many agencies are already working beyond their means to attempt to meet the growing needs of victims and survivors in their communities.
(c) Over the last several years, agencies have made the difficult decision to downsize due to a lack of funding while, at the same time, more victims and survivors are seeking existing services and more complex levels of services;
(d) Access to a firearm makes it five times more likely that a woman will die at the hands of an intimate partner. Every month, seventy women nationwide, on average, are shot and killed by an intimate partner. Over thirteen percent of women in America alive today, around twenty million women, have been threatened by an intimate partner using a firearm. In the United States, between 2014 and 2019, sixty percent of mass shooting events were found to be domestic violence attacks or to have been perpetrated by those with a history of domestic violence.
(e) Additionally, individuals experiencing trauma due to gun and other types of violence, including military veterans and at-risk youth, need support to access mental health services in order to recover from their trauma and reclaim their health. Currently, there are significant barriers to access to mental health services in Colorado.
(f) Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Colorado ranked in the bottom half of all states with regard to the prevalence of mental illness in the state relative to access to care. Since the pandemic began, the Colorado crisis services hotline has received thirty percent more calls and texts than in previous years, and the psychiatric emergency department at children's hospital in Colorado has treated ten percent more children experiencing thoughts of suicide. In 2021, one-third of Colorado youth reported experiencing feelings of sadness and hopelessness for a period of at least two weeks or more.
(g) In Colorado, a gun suicide death occurs every thirteen hours. During an average year, six hundred seventy-seven people die by gun suicide and seventy-three percent of all gun deaths in Colorado are suicides. Colorado has the tenth highest rate of gun suicide in the United States. According to the United States department of veterans affairs, the veteran suicide rate in Colorado is significantly higher than both the national average and the national general population suicide rate. The Colorado board of veterans affairs has reported that current resources are inadequate to meet the needs of the nearly four hundred thousand veterans in Colorado, and Colorado is expected to experience a thirty-nine percent increase in service needs in the near future.
(h) In Colorado, over half of all gun deaths among children and teens are suicides. According to the Colorado department of public health and environment, suicide is the leading cause of death for youth and young adults, persons aged ten to twenty-four years old. Black children and black teens are five times more likely than their white peers to die by gun.
(i) The excise tax on the net taxable sales of firearms dealers, firearms manufacturers, and ammunition vendors for retail sales in this state is analogous to longstanding federal law, which has, since 1919, placed a ten to eleven percent excise tax on the sale of firearms and ammunition by manufacturers, producers, and importers;
s are five times more likely than their white peers to die by gun.
(i) The excise tax on the net taxable sales of firearms dealers, firearms manufacturers, and ammunition vendors for retail sales in this state is analogous to longstanding federal law, which has, since 1919, placed a ten to eleven percent excise tax on the sale of firearms and ammunition by manufacturers, producers, and importers;
(j) Revenue from this federal excise tax has been used, since passage of the federal "Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act" in 1937, to fund wildlife conservation efforts that remediate the effects that firearms and ammunition have on wildlife populations through game hunting, particularly through grants to state wildlife agencies, and for conservation-related research, technical assistance, hunter safety, and hunter development;
(k) This article 37 will similarly place a reasonable state surtax on firearm and ammunition industry members that profit from the sale of firearms and ammunition in order to generate sustained revenue for programs that are designed to remediate the devastating impacts of these products on families and communities across this state;
(l) The National Rifle Association has referred to the federal excise tax scheme as a "legislative model" and "friend of the hunter", and the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) has repeatedly emphasized the importance of this federal firearm industry excise tax as well. A 2019 statement by an NSSF director published on the NSSF's website emphasized that "an often overlooked, and certainly under-communicated benefit, is the impact that excise taxes on firearms and ammunition have on conservation and wildlife populations", and a similar 2018 statement from NSSF praised Key Pittman and Willis Robertson, the legislators who sponsored the federal excise tax, as "heroes of the most successful conservation model in the world".
(m) This article 37 will similarly provide dedicated revenue to sustain and expand effective gun violence prevention, healing, and recovery programs for families and communities across Colorado, particularly in communities most disproportionately impacted by gun violence;
(n) This article 37 is consistent with our nation's longstanding historical tradition of regulating commercial firearm and ammunition manufacturers and sellers, including through federal, state, and local taxes on this commercial activity. An 1883 California statute, for instance, directed local governments to provide for payment of all revenue assessed as a tax, or received for licenses, on the storage, manufacture, and sale of gunpowder and related products in order to fund a "Fireman's Charitable Fund" to support professionals tasked with remediating the collateral impacts of firearm-related commercial activity on public safety through fire risk.
(o) In the historical record, other states, including Mississippi (1844), North Carolina (1857), Georgia (1866), Alabama (1867), the then-independent kingdom of Hawaii (1870), Nebraska (1895), Florida (1898), Wyoming (1899), and Virginia (1926), have similarly enacted longstanding commercial, occupational, or other taxes on those selling, purchasing, or possessing firearms and other dangerous weapons;
(p) The tax proposed in this article 37 mirrors the federal excise tax on firearm and ammunition industry participants and is similarly dedicated to funding programs to remediate the direct costs to individuals and communities resulting from the accessibility of firearms and ammunition in this state.
C.R.S. § 39-37-103 Definitions
39-37-103. Definitions. As used in this article 37, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) "Ammunition" means ammunition or cartridge cases, primers, bullets, or propellant powder designed for use in any firearm.
(2) "Ammunition vendor" means any person who engages in any retail sale of ammunition to a consumer in this state.
(3) "Doing business in this state" means the selling, leasing, or delivering in this state, or any activity in this state in connection with the selling, leasing, or delivering in this state, of firearms, firearms precursor parts, or ammunition by a retail sale, for use, storage, distribution, or consumption, within this state by a person who:
(a) Maintains within this state, directly or indirectly or by a subsidiary, an office, distribution facility, salesroom, warehouse, storage place, or other similar place of business, including the employment of a resident of this state who works from a home office in this state; or
(b) Solicits, either by direct representatives, by indirect representatives, by manufacturers' agents, by distribution of catalogues or other advertising, by use of any communication media, or by use of the newspaper, radio, or television advertising media, or by any other means whatsoever, business from persons residing in this state and by reason thereof receiving orders from, or selling or leasing tangible personal property to, such persons residing in this state for use, consumption, distribution, and storage, for use or consumption in this state during the following periods:
(I) An entire calendar year if, in the previous calendar year, the person has made retail sales of firearms, firearms precursor parts, or ammunition in this state exceeding twenty thousand dollars; or
(II) On and after the first day of the month after the ninetieth day after the person has made retail sales of firearms, firearms precursor parts, or ammunition in this state in the current calendar year that exceed twenty thousand dollars.
(4) "Excise tax" or "tax" means the tax imposed by this article 37.
(5) "Executive director" means the executive director of the department of revenue.
(6) "Firearm" or "gun" means a firearm as defined in section 18-12-101 (1)(b.7) and any instrument or device described in section 18-1-901 (3)(h), 18-12-401 (1)(a), or 18-12-506 (2).
(7) "Firearm precursor part" or "gun precursor part" means:
(a) An unfinished frame or receiver as defined in section 18-12-101 (1)(l);
(b) A fire control component as defined in section 18-12-101 (1)(c.3);
(c) A device marketed or sold to the public that is designed or adapted to be inserted into, affixed onto, or used in conjunction with a firearm if the device is:
(I) Reasonably designed or intended to be used to increase a firearm's rate of fire, concealability, magazine capacity, or destructive capacity; or
(II) Reasonably designed or intended to be used to increase a firearm's stability and handling when the firearm is repeatedly fired; or
(d) Any machine or device that is marketed or sold to the public that is reasonably designed or intended to be used to manufacture or produce a firearm.
(8) "Firearms dealer" or "gun dealer" means any person who is a federally licensed firearms dealer as defined in section 18-12-101 (1)(b.4) or a licensed gun dealer as defined in section 18-12-506 (6).
(9) "Firearms manufacturer" or "gun manufacturer" means any person who is licensed to manufacture firearms or ammunition pursuant to 18 U.S.C. sec. 921 et seq. and who engages in any retail sale of a firearm, firearm precursor part, or ammunition to a consumer in this state.
(10) "Fund" means the firearms and ammunition excise tax cash fund created in section 39-37-301 (1)(a).
(11) (a) "Law enforcement agency" means a department or agency of the state or of a county, city, city and county, or town within the state that employs at least one peace officer who is authorized to carry a firearm while on duty.
arm precursor part, or ammunition to a consumer in this state.
(10) "Fund" means the firearms and ammunition excise tax cash fund created in section 39-37-301 (1)(a).
(11) (a) "Law enforcement agency" means a department or agency of the state or of a county, city, city and county, or town within the state that employs at least one peace officer who is authorized to carry a firearm while on duty.
(b) "Law enforcement agency" includes a federal law enforcement agency and a tribal law enforcement agency.
(12) "Net taxable sales" means the aggregate purchase price received or due in money, credits, or property, or other consideration valued in money from all retail sales within this state, and embraced within the provisions of this article 37, less deductions for:
(a) An amount equal to the purchase price of property exempt from tax pursuant to section 39-37-105;
(b) An amount equal to the purchase price of property returned by the purchaser when the full sale price thereof is refunded whether in cash or by credit; and
(c) An amount equal to the purchase price of property sold on account found to be worthless and actually charged off by the taxpayer for income tax purposes, but if any such accounts are thereafter collected by the taxpayer, a tax shall be paid upon the amounts collected.
(13) (a) "Peace officer" means a certified peace officer described in section 16-2.5-102.
(b) "Peace officer" includes a police officer or criminal investigator employed by a federal or tribal law enforcement agency and a qualified retired law enforcement officer, as defined in 18 U.S.C. sec. 926C (c).
(14) "Person" has the same meaning as set forth in section 39-26-102 (6.3).
(15) (a) "Purchase price" means the aggregate consideration valued in money paid or delivered or promised to be paid or delivered by the user or consumer in consummation of a sale, exclusive of:
(I) The excise tax;
(II) Any direct tax imposed by the federal government;
(III) Any sales or use tax imposed by this state or by any political subdivision thereof;
(IV) Any retail delivery fee and enterprise retail delivery fees imposed or collected as specified in section 43-4-218;
(V) Another tax or fee imposed by a governmental entity that is collected at the same time as the excise tax.
(b) For purposes of this article 37, "purchase price" includes the full purchase price of the firearm, firearm precursor part, or ammunition sold after manufacture or after having been made to order and includes the full purchase price for material used and the service performed in connection therewith, and the profit thereon, included in the price charged to the user or consumer.
(16) "Retail sale" means all sales made within this state except wholesale sales.
(17) "Sale" means the acquisition for any consideration by any person of a firearm, firearm precursor part, or ammunition subject to the excise tax including installment and credit sales and the exchange of such property as well as the sale thereof for money and every such transaction, conditional or otherwise, for a consideration constituting a sale.
(18) "Vendor" means a person doing business in this state as an ammunition vendor, a firearms dealer, or a firearms manufacturer or any combination thereof.
(19) "Wholesaler" means a person doing a regularly organized wholesale or jobbing business and known to the trade as such and selling to retail merchants, jobbers, dealers, or other wholesalers, for the purpose of resale.
(20) (a) "Wholesale sale" means:
(I) A sale by a wholesaler to a vendor or other wholesaler for resale; or
(II) A sale to a person engaged in the business of manufacturing, compounding, or furnishing for sale, profit, or use any property which enters into the processing of or becomes an ingredient or component part of the product which is manufactured, compounded, or furnished.
(b) "Wholesale sale" does not include a sale by a wholesaler to a user or consumer not for resale.
C.R.S. § 39-37-104 Firearms, firearm precursor parts, and ammunition - excise tax levied upon gross taxable sales - tax rate
39-37-104. Firearms, firearm precursor parts, and ammunition - excise tax levied upon gross taxable sales - tax rate. (1) On and after April 1, 2025, there is levied an excise tax upon every vendor at the rate of six and one-half percent of the net taxable sales from the retail sale in this state of any firearm, firearm precursor part, or ammunition. Every vendor shall pay the tax levied by this section to the executive director in accordance with the provisions of this part 1.
(2) The determination of whether a retail sale occurs in this state is governed by the provisions set forth in section 39-26-104 (3)(a)(I) to (3)(a)(V) and the definitions set forth in section 39-26-104 (3)(d)(I) and (3)(d)(II).
C.R.S. § 39-37-105 Exemption
39-37-105. Exemption. The purchase price paid in consummation of the retail sale of any firearm, firearm precursor part, or ammunition to a peace officer or a law enforcement agency employing that peace officer or to an active duty member of the armed forces of the United States is exempt from taxation pursuant to this article 37.
C.R.S. § 39-37-106 Administration and enforcement - disputes and refunds - rules
39-37-106. Administration and enforcement - disputes and refunds - rules. (1) The executive director shall administer and enforce the tax levied pursuant to this part 1 in accordance with the provisions of article 21 of this title 39.
(2) The burden of proving that a sale of a firearm, firearm precursor part, or ammunition is not subject to or is exempt from the excise tax, or that a vendor is not doing business in this state, as defined in section 39-37-103 (3), or is otherwise not required to make a return or to remit tax pursuant to this article 37, shall be on the vendor under such reasonable requirements of proof as the executive director may prescribe by rule.
(3) (a) The executive director shall make a refund or allow a credit to any vendor that establishes that the vendor has overpaid the tax due pursuant to this article 37. No such refund shall be made or credit allowed in an amount greater than the tax paid.
(b) The vendor must file any claim for refund or credit under this section within three years after the due date of the return showing the overpayment. The claim must be made on forms prescribed by the executive director and must include such pertinent data, information, or documentation as the executive director may require.
(c) Upon receipt of the application and proof of the matters contained therein, the executive director shall give notice to the vendor in writing of the executive director's decision. Aggrieved vendors may petition the executive director for a hearing on the claim in the manner provided in section 39-21-104.
(4) The executive director shall promulgate rules for the implementation of this part 1.
C.R.S. § 39-37-107 Registration required
39-37-107. Registration required. (1) (a) It is unlawful for any person to engage in the business of an ammunition vendor, a firearms dealer, or a firearms manufacturer in this state without first having registered as a vendor with the executive director. A registration application properly filed on a form prescribed by the executive director and accepted by the executive director is valid until December 31 of the next odd-numbered year following the date of registration, unless sooner cancelled or revoked. A person registering pursuant to this subsection (1) shall disclose the name of the vendor and the vendor's business location, including the street number of the vendor's business location, and any other facts the executive director may require.
(b) It is the duty of every vendor on or before January 1 of each even-numbered year to renew the vendor's registration if the vendor remains in retail business or liable to account for the tax levied pursuant to this article 37.
(c) If a vendor makes retail sales at two or more separate places of business in this state, a separate registration for each place of business is required.
(2) The executive director, after reasonable notice and a hearing, may revoke the registration of any person found by the executive director to have violated any provision of this article 37. Any finding and order of the executive director revoking the registration of any vendor is subject to review by the district court of the district where the business of the vendor is conducted, upon application of the vendor. The procedure for review must be, as nearly as possible, the same as provided for the review of findings as provided by proceedings in the nature of certiorari.
(3) (a) Any vendor who makes retail sales subject to the excise tax without registering commits a petty offense and shall be punished according to section 18-1.3-503.
(b) Any vendor who makes retail sales subject to the excise tax without registering may also be subject to a civil penalty of fifty dollars per day up to a maximum penalty of one thousand dollars. The executive director shall assess the penalty imposed by this subsection (3)(b) in the same manner as the taxes, penalties, and interest imposed by this article 37. The executive director may waive or reduce the penalty assessed pursuant to this subsection (3)(b) if the vendor's failure to register is due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect or intent to defraud.
C.R.S. § 39-37-108 Books and records to be preserved
39-37-108. Books and records to be preserved. (1) Every vendor shall keep complete and accurate records necessary for the determination of the correct tax liability, including itemized invoices of all retail sales of any firearms, firearm precursor parts, or ammunition in this state.
(2) A vendor shall provide a copy of the records required to be kept pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, and any other records deemed necessary by the executive director for the determination of the correct tax liability to the executive director, if so requested. The executive director may establish the acceptable form of such records.
C.R.S. § 39-37-109 Returns and remittance of tax - civil penalty - rules
39-37-109. Returns and remittance of tax - civil penalty - rules. (1) Every vendor shall file a return with the executive director each month. The return, which must be upon forms prescribed and furnished by the executive director, must contain the net taxable sales from the retail sale in this state of any firearm, firearm precursor part, or ammunition by the vendor during the preceding month, the tax due thereon, and any other information that the executive director may reasonably require.
(2) Every vendor shall file the return required by subsection (1) of this section with the executive director by the twentieth day of the month following the month reported and with the report shall remit the amount of tax due. The vendor shall file the return required by subsection (1) of this section electronically and remit the amount of tax due by electronic funds transfer.
(3) The executive director may extend the time for filing a return and remitting the tax due for good cause shown or under such reasonable rules as the executive director may promulgate.
(4) If a person neglects or refuses to file a timely return or payment of the tax, to pay or correctly account for any tax as required by this article 37, or to keep complete and accurate records, as required by section 39-37-109, the executive director shall make an estimate, based upon the information available, of the amount of tax due or not accounted for or incorrectly accounted for on a return for the period for which the vendor is delinquent. The executive director shall add to the estimated amount of tax due or not accounted for or incorrectly accounted for interest, if applicable pursuant to section 39-21-110.5, and a penalty equal to the greater of:
(a) Fifteen dollars; or
(b) Ten percent of such unpaid, unaccounted, or incorrectly accounted for amount of tax, plus one-half percent per month from the date when due, not to exceed eighteen percent in the aggregate.
C.R.S. § 39-37-110 Distribution of tax collected
39-37-110. Distribution of tax collected. (1) Each month, the state treasurer shall credit the money collected for payment of the tax levied pursuant to this part 1 to the old age pension fund created in section 1 of article XXIV of the state constitution in accordance with section 2 (a) and (f) of article XXIV of the state constitution and shall further transfer an amount equal to this amount from the old age pension fund to the general fund in accordance with section 7 (c) of article XXIV of the state constitution.
(2) Each month, the state treasurer shall transfer an amount equal to the amount of money collected for payment of the tax levied pursuant to this part 1 from the general fund to the fund for distribution in accordance with section 39-37-301 (2).
C.R.S. § 39-37-111 Prohibited acts - penalties
39-37-111. Prohibited acts - penalties. It is unlawful for any vendor to willfully make any false or fraudulent return or false statement on any return or to willfully evade the payment of the tax, or any part of the tax, levied pursuant to this part 1. Any vendor who willfully violates any provision of this part 1 shall be punished as provided in section 39-21-118.
C.R.S. § 39-37-112 Revenue and spending limitations
39-37-112. Revenue and spending limitations. Notwithstanding any limitations on revenue, spending, or appropriations contained in section 20 of article X of the state constitution or any other provision of law, all revenue generated by the excise tax levied pursuant to this part 1 as approved by the voters at the statewide election in November 2024, may be collected and spent as a voter-approved revenue change and shall not require voter approval subsequent to the voter approval required pursuant to part 2 of this article 37.
C.R.S. § 39-37-201 Submission of ballot issue - excise tax on firearms and ammunition - definition
39-37-201. Submission of ballot issue - excise tax on firearms and ammunition - definition. (1) As used in this section, "ballot issue" means the question submitted to voters pursuant to subsection (2) of this section.
(2) At the statewide election held in November 2024, the secretary of state shall submit to the registered electors of the state for their approval or rejection the following ballot issue: "Shall state taxes be increased by $39,000,000 annually to fund mental health services, including for military veterans and at-risk youth, school safety and gun violence prevention, and support services for victims of domestic violence and other violent crimes by authorizing a tax on gun dealers, gun manufacturers, and ammunition vendors at the rate of 6.5% of the net taxable sales from the retail sale of any gun, gun precursor part, or ammunition, with the state keeping and spending all of the new tax revenue as a voter-approved revenue change?"
(3) For purposes of section 1-5-407, the ballot issue is a proposition. Section 1-40-106 (3)(d) does not apply to the ballot issue.
C.R.S. § 39-37-301 Firearms and ammunition excise tax cash fund - creation - distribution
39-37-301. Firearms and ammunition excise tax cash fund - creation - distribution. (1) (a) The firearms and ammunition excise tax cash fund is created in the state treasury. The fund consists of money transferred to the fund pursuant to section 39-37-110 (2) and any other money that the general assembly may appropriate or transfer to the fund.
(b) The state treasurer shall credit all interest and income derived from the deposit and investment of money in the fund to the fund.
(2) (a) Except for any money in the fund that is annually appropriated by the general assembly pursuant to subsection (2)(b) of this section, money paid into the fund pursuant to section 39-37-110 (2) or credited to the fund pursuant to subsection (1)(b) of this section must be distributed from the fund as follows:
(I) (A) The first thirty million dollars paid into the fund in the first fiscal year in which money is transferred to the fund must be transferred to the Colorado crime victim services fund created in section 24-33.5-505.5 (2) and used for crime victim services grants, as described in section 24-33.5-505.5 (3).
(B) For each fiscal year thereafter, the executive director or the executive director's designee shall annually calculate and adjust the amount required to be transferred pursuant to subsection (2)(a)(I)(A) of this section for inflation or deflation and shall round the adjusted amount upward or downward to the nearest one thousand dollars. Inflation or deflation is measured by the annual percentage change in the United States department of labor's bureau of labor statistics consumer price index, or a successor index, for Denver-Aurora-Lakewood for all items paid by urban consumers. The state treasurer shall transfer the amount calculated by the executive director or the executive director's designee pursuant to this subsection (2)(a)(I)(B) in accordance with the requirement in subsection (2)(a)(I)(A) of this section.
(II) After the requirement in subsection (2)(a)(I) of this section is met, the next eight million dollars paid into the fund in each fiscal year must be transferred to the behavioral and mental health cash fund created in section 24-75-230 (2)(a); and
(III) After the requirement in subsection (2)(a)(II) of this section is met, the next one million dollars paid into the fund in each fiscal year must be transferred to the school security disbursement program cash fund created in section 24-33.5-1811 (1).
(b) Subject to annual appropriation by the general assembly, for state fiscal year 2024-25 and any state fiscal year thereafter, the department of revenue may expend money from the fund for direct and indirect costs associated with implementing and administering this article 37.
(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, on June 30, 2025, and June 30, 2026, the state treasurer shall transfer from the fund to the general fund an amount of money equal to the amount of money used in the state fiscal years 2024-25 and 2025-26 from the general fund to pay the costs of implementing and administering this article 37.
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-39.docxFetched: 10/6/2026