By Ava Flanell

It’s been a little more than a month since the most radical anti-gun legislation went into effect in Colorado history: Senate Bill 25-003. Originally intended as an “assault weapons ban,” Colorado Democrat sponsors settled for a complicated half-measure they wrongly believed would be a more tolerable violation of Coloradans’ Second Amendment rights.

Despite bipartisan opposition and thousands of opposing testimonies, the bill passed and took effect on Aug. 1.

Now, to buy a gas-operated handgun, shotgun or semiautomatic rifle that has a detachable magazine, you have to go through an expensive, timely and unworkable process. Though legislators labeled this bill as a “safety measure” to educate the public, it’s been such a hurdle only 14% of applicants have completed all requirements.

Here’s what the lengthy and costly process looks like in order to exercise your Second Amendment rights.

First, you have to create an online profile with Colorado Parks & Wildlife (CPW), an organization that has no business running this program. This profile puts your personal information into a database, which can arguably be illegal.

Second, one must find an online third party that conducts name-based background checks. CPW doesn’t specify where to go for this. They advised me to ask my sheriff’s office, but the issue is, not all sheriffs are participating because they can’t afford to comply with this unfunded mandate. The few companies conducting background checks charge $30 to $75. You must wait for approval before moving forward and keep in mind, this isn’t a background check to get a gun, it’s a background check to take the class to get a gun.

Third, you’ll apply for your eligibility card with the sheriff’s department. Thankfully, you don’t have to use your local sheriff, which is helpful if they’re not doing this in your county. The downfall is some counties are making you pick up your card in person. For those living in rural districts, this can be an issue. Some county sheriffs are waiving the fee, and others are charging as much as $200. Additionally, you must pay $52 to CPW.

Fourth, you must find a “specific semiauto firearms” instructor. I recently took the class, and I must say, the four-hour online training is a joke. Turns out, instructors don’t even have to use a shotgun, rifle, gas-operated handgun or even a real gun in class. The concept of “safety” becomes questionable when students aren’t even trained on the guns they’re jumping through hoops to buy.

The class must be 12 hours, divided up into at least two separate days or if you have your hunter’s safety license, you only need a four-hour class. I have my hunter’s safety license, but CPW didn’t approve it right away and gave no explanation until I pursued the issue. After completing the $100 to $500 course, you must take a test and score a 90% or higher.

The CPW-created course is a dumbed-down version of the required 8-hour concealed-carry class with sprinkled propaganda. Instructors are required to discuss firearm suicides and other anti-gun statistics that are widely disputed.

Fifth step! After the instructor enters your data into CPW’s database, you can finally shop for a firearm. At this point you have already spent $182 to $872 and you haven’t even bought a firearm. The gun store must verify your eligibility through CPW’s website and then you’ll fill out another background check. Yes, two background checks.

Sixth, you wait the mandatory three-day waiting period. Apparently, waiting and jumping through these hoops wasn’t enough.

After three days, you finally get to exercise your Second Amendment rights, which I know our forefathers didn’t intend for.

As advocates have been saying all along, this isn’t about safety. It’s intended to make the process so difficult it prevents Coloradans from buying guns, and this is just the beginning. Next session, bill sponsors will call the next SB3 what the first one really wanted to be: an assault weapons ban.

Ava Flanell represents Colorado House District 14, serving on the Education and Judiciary Committees. Rep. Flanell is a Colorado Springs native, a small-business owner and a firearms instructor. With her background in business and advocacy, she focuses her legislative efforts on making Colorado safer, more affordable and defending constitutional rights.