With Colorado set to ban letting customers grab ammunition off store shelves for themselves, a Cheyenne gun shop manager said he looks forward to more potential business coming from south of the state line.
“They can do whatever they want down there (in Colorado), all they’re doing is driving people north to Wyoming,” Art Huckfeldt, the manager at Frontier Arms & Supply, told Cowboy State Daily.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Friday signed Colorado House Bill 25-1133 into law. It’s set to take effect July 1, 2026, and will require stores to keep ammunition locked up and out of customers’ reach.
Customers will have to ask a store clerk to retrieve ammunition, and then show identification before proceeding with their purchases.
The measure also bans retail ammunition sales to anybody younger than 21, with some exceptions.
For instance, people who are 18 to 21 years old will still be able to buy ammunition if they are military members or veterans, or have a hunter education certification.
Under current federal law, people must be 18 to buy ammunition for long guns,such as rifles and shotguns, and 21 to purchase pistol ammunition.
No Ammo Vending Machines In Colorado
HB 25-1133 will also apparently kill Colorado’s chances of getting ammunition vending machines.
A company called American Rounds installed ammunition vending kiosks in Fresh Value stores in Alabama and Super C Mart stores in Oklahoma last year, with plans to expand its business to other states.
‘A Right Delayed Is A Right Denied’
Some might argue that having to ask for ammunition, instead of just grabbing it from a store shelf and heading for the cash register is little more than an inconvenience.
But it could be regarded as a restriction of Second Amendment Rights, Gun Owners of America (GOA) National Director Mark Jones of Buffalo told Cowboy State Daily
“I view that as an unconstitutional restriction on access to a right. The Second Amendment covers not just arms but ammunition as well,” he said.
“There is no justification for the Colorado ban from a constitutional perspective,” Jones added. “From a practical perspective, it won't accomplish anything other than delaying access, by law-abiding people, to a right. GOA has long held that a right delayed is a right denied.”
The new law got pushback in Colorado as well.
Colorado State Shooting Association president Ray Elliot vowed to fight back against it in a statement released by the group.
“We will not stand for this betrayal of our constitutional protections, and we call on every patriot to join us in this battle for justice, and retribution,” Elliot said.
Hopes To See More Customers
Huckfeldt said that stricter firearms and ammunition regulations in Colorado,coupled with higher sales taxes in that state, could be good news for gun shops in Wyoming.
He said he’s ready to welcome frustrated Coloradans into his shop.
But will they start coming across the state line?
“I hope so,” he said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
