(1) As used in this
article 12, unless the context otherwise requires:
(a) Adult means any person eighteen years of age or older.
(a.2) [ Editor's note: Subsection (1)(a.2) is effective July 1, 2026. ] Ammunition means an ammunition or cartridge case, primer, bullet, or propellant
powder designed for use in a firearm. The term ammunition does not include:
(I) A shotgun shot or pellet not designed for use as the single, complete
projectile load for one shotgun hull or casing; or
(II) An unloaded, nonmetallic shotgun hull or casing that does not have a
primer.
(b) Ballistic knife means any knife that has a blade that is forcefully
projected from the handle by means of a spring-loaded device or explosive charge.
(c) Blackjack includes any billy, sand club, sandbag, or other hand-operated striking weapon consisting, at the striking end, of an encased piece of
lead or other heavy substance and, at the handle end, a strap or springy shaft that
increases the force of impact.
(d) Bomb means any explosive or incendiary device or molotov cocktail, as
defined in section 9-7-103, or any chemical device that causes or can cause an
explosion, that is not specifically designed for lawful and legitimate use in the
hands of its possessor.
(e) Bureau means the Colorado bureau of investigation created in section
24-33.5-401.
(f) Federal firearms licensee means a federally licensed firearm dealer,
federally licensed firearm importer, and federally licensed firearm manufacturer.
(g) Federally licensed firearm dealer means a licensed dealer as defined in
18 U.S.C. sec. 921 (a)(11).
(h) Federally licensed firearm importer means a licensed importer as
defined in 18 U.S.C. sec. 921 (a)(9).
(i) Federally licensed firearm manufacturer means a licensed manufacturer
as defined in 18 U.S.C. sec. 921 (a)(10).
(j) Firearm means any weapon, including a starter gun, that can, is
designed to, or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an
explosive; the frame or receiver of a firearm; or a firearm silencer. Firearm does
not include an antique firearm, as defined in 18 U.S.C. sec. 921 (a)(16). In the case of
a licensed collector, firearm means only curios and relics. Firearm includes a
weapons parts kit that is designed to or may readily be completed, assembled,
restored, or otherwise converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive.
Firearm does not include a weapon, including a weapons parts kit, in which the
frame or receiver of the firearm, as defined in subsection (1)(m) of this section, or
the weapon, is destroyed.
(k) Firearm silencer means any instrument, attachment, weapon, or
appliance for causing the firing of any gun, revolver, pistol, or other firearm to be
silent or intended to lessen or muffle the noise of the firing of any such weapon.
(l) Fire control component means a component necessary for the firearm to
initiate, complete, or continue the firing sequence, including any of the following:
Hammer, bolt, bolt carrier, breechblock, cylinder, trigger mechanism, firing pin,
striker, or slide rails.
(m) Frame or receiver of a firearm means a part of a firearm that, when the
complete firearm is assembled, is visible from the exterior and provides housing or
a structure designed to hold or integrate one or more fire control components, even
if pins or other attachments are required to connect the fire control components.
Any part of a firearm imprinted with a serial number is presumed to be a frame or
receiver of a firearm, unless the federal bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and
explosives makes an official determination otherwise or there is other reliable
evidence to the contrary.
(n) Gas gun means a device designed for projecting gas-filled projectiles
that release their contents after having been projected from the device and
includes projectiles designed for use in such a device.
(o) Handgun means a pistol, revolver, or other firearm of any description,
loaded or unloaded, from which any shot, bullet, or other missile can be discharged,
the length of the barrel of which, not including any revolving, detachable, or
magazine breech, does not exceed twelve inches.
(p) Juvenile means any person under the age of eighteen years.
(q) Knife means any dagger, dirk, knife, or stiletto with a blade over three
and one-half inches in length, or any other dangerous instrument capable of
inflicting cutting, stabbing, or tearing wounds, but does not include a hunting or
fishing knife carried for sports use. The issue that a knife is a hunting or fishing
knife must be raised as an affirmative defense.
(r) Locking device means a device that prohibits the operation or discharge
of a firearm and that can only be disabled with the use of a key, combination, or
biometric data.
(s) Machine gun means any firearm, whatever its size and usual
designation, that shoots automatically more than one shot, without manual
reloading, by a single function of the trigger.
(t) Repealed.
(u) Personalized firearm means a firearm that has, as part of its original
manufacture, incorporated design technology that allows the firearm to be fired
only by the authorized user and prevents any of the safety characteristics of the
firearm from being readily deactivated by anyone other than the authorized user.
The technology limiting the firearm's operational use may include, but is not limited
to, fingerprint verification, magnetic encoding, radio frequency tagging, and other
automatic user identification systems utilizing biometric, mechanical, or electronic
systems.
(u.3) Rapid-fire device means any device, part, kit, tool, accessory, or
combination of parts that has the effect of increasing the rate of fire of a
semiautomatic firearm above the standard rate of fire for the semiautomatic
firearm that is not otherwise equipped with that device, part, or combination of
parts.
(u.7) Semiautomatic firearm means a firearm that is not a machine gun and
that, upon initiating the firing sequence, fires the first chambered cartridge and
uses a portion of the energy of the firing cartridge to extract the expended
cartridge case, chamber the next round, and prepare the firing mechanism to fire
again, and requires a separate pull, release, push, or initiation of the trigger to fire
each cartridge. Semiautomatic firearm includes a semiautomatic rifle,
semiautomatic shotgun, or semiautomatic handgun.
(v) Short rifle means a rifle having a barrel less than sixteen inches long or
an overall length of less than twenty-six inches.
(w) Short shotgun means a shotgun having a barrel or barrels less than
eighteen inches long or an overall length of less than twenty-six inches.
(x) Stun gun means a device capable of temporarily immobilizing a person
by the infliction of an electrical charge.
(y) Three-dimensional printer or 3-D printer means a computer-aided
manufacturing device capable of producing a three-dimensional object from a
three-dimensional digital model through an additive manufacturing process that
involves the layering of two-dimensional cross sections formed of a resin or similar
material that are fused together to form a three-dimensional object.
(z) Unfinished frame or receiver means any forging, casting, printing,
extrusion, machined body, or similar article that has reached a stage in
manufacture when it may readily be completed, assembled, or converted to be used
as the frame or receiver of a functional firearm; or that is marketed or sold to the
public to become or be used as the frame or receiver of a functional firearm once
completed, assembled, or converted.
(2) It shall be an affirmative defense to any provision of this article that the
act was committed by a peace officer in the lawful discharge of his duties.