Possibly moving back to Colorado and have LOTS of questions.

[jenznat0r]

Hello everyone,

I'm a new member. I am posting this here in the general forum because I have several questions and I don't want to spam the different discussion boards with separated topics. This also seems like the most active area on the forums, so I'm posting here. Here it goes:

I am originally a Southern California resident for most of my adult life. I moved out to Idaho to attend a University in 2015. I met my wife out there who is a Colorado native. We got married and I briefly lived in Colorado for a few months in 2015 while I was off-track and from 2016-2017 when I took a break from school after our first was born. Long story short, I live in a pretty amazing state for owning firearms (Idaho), and I am really resistant to move because of this. You can pretty much have anything and own anything you want here to your heart's content. I have taken advantage of that while I have been out here. However, I am currently at a crossroads in my life. I find myself not really being successful at the academic level, and I've tried to force school down my throat for the last couple years without a whole lot of success. Work opportunities and pay are far less in Idaho, and there is no way in heck I will move back to my home state of California. This leaves Colorado back on the table.

My questions are as follows. I was never a firearm owner when I lived in the state, so I'll ask a few:

1.) Most of my firearms purchases have been mostly as if I were to stay here in Idaho. EVERYTHING I own have hi-capacity magazines with the exception of one 22 which is a single shot. Even my two handguns have 12 round double stack magazines factory. Can I bring them into the state if I legally purchased them as an Idaho resident? I hear from people out there you can have them, you just can't buy them? I'm getting mixed answers, so I want to clarify.

2.) I almost bought a suppressor in my state, but it's on hold until I decide what to do about moving or staying. Are suppressors legal for purchase or transfer in Colorado?

3.) Are there any specific laws in Colorado I need to know about? I know Colorado is far less firearm friendly than Idaho, but any clarification would be great.

4.) How is ammo availability in Colorado? I buy most of mine online, but if I actually moved, are there shortages or issues finding odd calibers and the like?

Appreciate it guys, any insight will help my family and I make a better informed decision. I'm trying to weigh out the pros and cons of staying vs. moving. The firearms I own weigh into that factor.

[Martinjmpr]

To answer your questions:

Colorado Law (CRS 18-12-302) says that you can possess 16+ round magazines as long as you possessed them on 07/01/2013 and maintained continuous possession of them. It does not distinguish between in-state or out-of-state purchases. It merely states that you cannot possess them if you acquired them after 7/1/13. The burden of proof is on the prosecution to show that you did not come into possession of the magazines until after 7/1/13, you are not required to prove that you owned them prior to 7/1/13.

Colorado also outlawed private firearms transfers. CRS 18-12-112. All transfers must go through an FFL unless they are between immediate family members which the statute defines as "spouses, parents, children, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, first cousins, aunts, and uncles; "

Colorado is generally CCW friendly. In essence, with a CCW permit you can carry in any public place except public (K-12) schools, places that have metal detectors and screen everyone coming in, or places where carrying is prohibited by Federal law (post offices and other Federal sites like military reservations.)

Ammo is widely available. After the great "ammo panic" of 2013 most of the Front Range sporting goods places stocked up. You can get a brick of .22lr for ~$20 or possibly less depending on where you go. There are also no restrictions on mail order ammo.

The most difficult thing about being a shooter on the front range is a lack of places to shoot. Public shooting ranges are very limited (Cherry Creek is the only one I'm aware of.) Other than that it's pricey indoor ranges or a LOOOONG drive to get to a nice outdoor range.

Hope that helps.

[Martinjmpr]

BTW not firearms related but while it's true that salaries are higher here on the front range, the Cost of Living is crazy high. Think: $1500 - $2000/month for a 2 bedroom apartment in a nice area. If you figure (as a general rule) that your housing should cost 1/4 to 1/3 of your gross income, that means that to afford a $1500/month place your household gross should be $72k.

My job is here and we own a home in Littleton, but as soon as I retire in about 7 years, the wife and I are getting the hell out of the front range and moving to someplace with fewer crowds and lower COL. We're considering anywhere between the Western Slope (Grand Junction area) all the way down to AZ and possibly even Texas.

[jenznat0r]

Awesome.

I lived in Aurora prior, I am familiar with Cherry Creek. I appreciate all your insight. That sounds kind of tricky with the magazines. What ranges in the area would you recommend? My biggest concern is my AR in 7.62x39 shoots a diet of steel case ammo. I know some ranges depending do not allow steel case ammo indoor or outdoors. Here we have an outdoor range 15 minutes west of town or we just shoot in the desert. It's pretty nice out here.

It's a tough one indeed. Pay is a lot lower here, but so is cost of living. What makes it hard is the opportunities are almost nonexistent unless you move to Boise, and even that's a small city at about 245k.

[Aloha_Shooter]

Lots of private ranges along the Front Range, both indoor and outdoor. In addition, if you live in El Paso County, there's an excellent public range just off Fort Carson. No problems with steel case, just pick up after yourself. What most of the ranges I've been at have a problem with is steel core since it screws up targets and backstops. There are also public lands you can shoot at but the antigunners are slowly encroaching on those.

[Irving]

Since no one had addressed it yet, your NFA items are good to go here.

[jenznat0r]

Thanks for the insight. I know Colorado is slowly becoming anti-gunner, hence my hesitation. All my wife's family lives there, and other than for school we have no ties to family or community out here in Idaho. A GOOD hourly job in Idaho pays 12-15 dollars an hour, and that's with some experience. Those jobs are almost nonexistent, and they go quick. As much as I'd love to finish out my education, my heart really isn't in my current major and at my current University, I am too far along to switch as I have too many credits. I've considered attending a trade school or apprenticing as a gunsmith (or attending the gunsmithing school in Colorado Springs), but academically I've just struggled the whole way. I even got an offer to be trained as a locksmith by a family friend out there if I was open to moving back.

Hindsight is also kind of 20/20. I finally convinced my wife to get her Idaho standard CWL....it'll be no good if we move.

[Irving]

School doesn't really teach one how to make money, just offers an expensive way to check boxes that employers require. When you start your own business, none of that applies. While there are still obstacles to starting your own business, they generally aren't academic.

[Martinjmpr]

Awesome.

I lived in Aurora prior, I am familiar with Cherry Creek. I appreciate all your insight. That sounds kind of tricky with the magazines. What ranges in the area would you recommend? My biggest concern is my AR in 7.62x39 shoots a diet of steel case ammo. I know some ranges depending do not allow steel case ammo indoor or outdoors. Here we have an outdoor range 15 minutes west of town or we just shoot in the desert. It's pretty nice out here.

There are only a few indoor ranges that even allow you to shoot rifles and NONE of them allow steel-core ammo. They don't even allow steel core pistol ammo (9mm.) Basically the only way to shoot steel core is to go to an outdoor range.

There is a free outdoor range in the Pawnee grasslands, roughly 1.5 to 2 hours from Denver. There are a couple of DOW ranges I know of, one is near Hot Sulphur Springs, again 2+ hours from Denver. I've heard there is an outdoor shooting area near Keystone or maybe Breckenridge (something about the dump?) or maybe it was Frisco.

There are a few designated shooting areas in the National Forests. Again, expect to drive a fair distance to get to one (Harris Park is probably the closest, it's between Conifer and Bailey.) Sadly, between shooting accidents and mountains of trash left by Cletus Spucker's slack-jawed cousins, many of the public areas are in danger of being shut down by the USFS.

[jenznat0r]

School doesn't really teach one how to make money, just offers an expensive way to check boxes that employers require. When you start your own business, none of that applies. While there are still obstacles to starting your own business, they generally aren't academic.

I basically go to school forcibly for that reason. Society has told me in order to make more money, I need a piece of paper that says I'm capable of a pay increase. I'm just at a really tough point at my life right now. I'm 32, I'm married with 2 kids, and all I want at the end of the day is to comfortably provide for my family. Maybe not lavishly, but enough to buy a safe home and have what we need. That's really my selfless wish, and I find it funny that I've tried school very unsuccessfully since I was 18 on and off. Yet I keep re-enrolling every time thinking it's going to be different this time, and it never is. I honestly don't know the secret to making that happen for me individually.