Committee advances bill to restrict ammunition sales to buyers 21 and require vendor‑assisted sales

House Bill 11‑33, which would regulate retail ammunition sales in Colorado, passed the State Affairs Committee’s amendment and hold phase by a 3‑2 vote after hours of testimony from public‑health advocates, gun‑safety organizations, shooting‑sports stakeholders and small vendors.

The bill’s sponsors, Senator Lisa Kipp and Senator Sam Amabile, said HB 11‑33 would "keep ammunition out of the hands of people too young to legally purchase firearms" by raising the age to buy ammunition to 21 and by requiring verification at point of sale and on delivery. Sen. Kipp described exceptions in the bill for U.S. military and Colorado National Guard members aged 18‑20 and for certain hunting qualifications and range‑use purchases.

Key provisions in the enacted committee language require retailers to secure ammunition to prevent theft (for example, locked displays behind counters), prohibit unattended vending‑machine sales of ammunition, require an age check for in‑store and delivered purchases and require vendors to obtain written acknowledgment from the recipient for deliveries. Sponsors said the effective date was set to July 1, 2026, to give smaller retailers time to comply; an amendment clarified the bill would not conflict with federal shipping rules.

Proponents included pediatricians, public‑health organizations and gun‑violence prevention groups. Dr. Maya Hass, an emergency‑medicine pediatrician at Children’s Hospital Colorado, told the committee she treats adolescents after self‑harm attempts and argued that easy access to ammunition raises lethality. "Nine out of 10 people who use a gun in their suicide attempt will die," she said, urging passage.

Gun‑safety organizations and some gun owners framed the bill as aligning ammunition rules with the state's 2023 decision to raise the minimum firearm purchase age to 21 and cited evidence that 18‑ to‑20‑year‑olds are disproportionately involved in gun homicides.

Opponents — including small‑store owners, the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s state representative and libertarian witnesses — said the bill would be burdensome to rural retailers, could be constitutionally vulnerable and would not address root causes of violence. Trade witnesses asked for clearer exemptions for reloading components and for flexible anti‑theft options for small shops.

Committee amendments adopted during the hearing clarified in‑person transaction exceptions and that the bill does not conflict with federal shipping requirements; sponsors said those changes were made after consultation with stakeholders including the Colorado Motor Carriers Association.

Motion and votes: the committee adopted technical amendments L048–L050 (non‑controversial drafting and federal‑shipping clarification). A roll‑call motion to hold the bill in committee (procedural step recorded as a committee decision) passed 3‑2: Senators Ball, Alvin (yes), Senator Pelton B and Pelton R (no), and the chair voted yes. The recorded motion result was 3 to 2. Sponsors and many supporting witnesses urged the committee to advance the bill beyond technical changes.

The committee record shows considerable discussion about operational impacts for small and rural retailers; several witnesses asked for tailored exemptions (for example, by square footage or volume of sales) and for language recognizing alternative theft‑prevention measures (RFID, camera oversight) where locked cases are impractical. Sponsors and supporting witnesses said the bill permits multiple compliance options and emphasized the primary public‑safety goal: to reduce access to ammunition by those under 21 and to limit easy, unsupervised bulk acquisition of ammunition.