*Content Warning: Brief mentions of suicide and gun violence.
It’s a chilly Sunday in January and I’m standing next to my husband, Andy, my pocket lined with still-warm brass shell casings. I take a step forward and remove my second handgun — a Sig Sauer P365-XL — from its case, loading it with a few bullets before aiming at my target and firing. If you had told me a year ago that I’d be spending one of my weekends at a firing range, I would’ve thought you were crazy. Between my family’s extensive history with suicides by firearm and the countless American shooting-related tragedies I’ve witnessed over the years, I’ve been staunchly opposed to guns for as long as I can remember. After the most recent election, however, I came to terms with some harsh realizations and decided I needed to swallow my fears and explore new methods of self-defense and protection, just in case.
about colorado gun laws
As with any new venture in my life, I started by doing some research on the basics of owning a firearm and any Colorado gun laws. First and foremost, you must be at least 18 years old and not have any state or federal prohibitions to own a gun in this state. Colorado itself is an open carry state — meaning that you can openly carry a legal firearm without any sort of permit if you’re not prohibited from doing so or in any forbidden areas like schools, federal properties, etc. — however, specific regulations vary by county and municipality codes, so be sure to double check before you travel while carrying. Openly carrying a weapon can occasionally cause unwanted attention and other issues, so many people prefer to carry a concealed weapon (CCW). To do this, you would need to obtain a Concealed Handgun permit (CHP) through your local sheriff’s department. There are some different eligibility requirements for a CHP and the process to obtain one is a bit more extensive and requires you to submit your fingerprints, a photo, a background check, and proof that you passed a concealed carry training class along with your application.
To get an in-depth understanding of all Colorado gun laws, visit https://csp.colorado.gov/colorado-gun-laws.
My Experience at the firing range
After researching gun laws and basics, I started to look into what kind of gun I would want to own. It didn’t take long for me to become completely overwhelmed by all the pistols, shotguns, rifles, revolvers, and other available options. One of my best friends lives in a slightly more rural area and has purchased guns for home protection, so I reached out to her for recommendations. She directed me towards a local shop, Liberty Firearms Institute, which featured both a gun shop and a firing range, so you could test out different firearms before making any purchases. Considering my husband and I both had little to no experience with shooting, we thought this would be our best option and decided to make the drive to Johnstown, Colorado where they were located.
After a brief background check, some paperwork, and a safety video, Andy and I descended towards the basement where the firing range was located. My eyes widened at the sound of the various booms and pops getting louder with every step and my anxiety levels were high as we each selected two pistols to try. Supplies in hand, we started walking down a long hallway that led to the 50-yard gun range, where we were greeted by an employee who gave us a short tutorial on how to load our guns. Andy agreed to go first and fired off several rounds before stepping aside to let me try. My heart began pounding even harder as I pulled my first pistol — a Glock 48 — out of the case. I’ll admit, it was intense! People were practicing with shotguns on both sides of our lane and their firearms sounded like deafening cannon booms, even with my earmuffs on. My hands shook as I struggled to load a few bullets into the magazine and I glanced at my husband and shook my head anxiously, stepping back outside the range to catch my breath.
Andy reloaded and fired a few more rounds as I watched and after a few more moments, I returned to our lane inside the range where he gave me a reassuring smile. My hands were still shaking, but my determination took over as I picked up my handgun and loaded it. I lifted my hands and aimed at the target, a paper with a human-shaped silhouette hanging about seven yards away, before taking a deep breath and pulling the trigger. The recoil takes me by surprise, but I hold my ground and fire a few more rounds before setting the empty pistol back in its case. We continued, each testing out our second guns, before packing up and returning to the main floor where the store was located, despite still having another twenty minutes left in our lane time.
“I was wildly uncomfortable in there,” Andy whispers to me as I nod my head in agreement.
My experience Gun Shopping
I breathed a sigh of relief as I entered the gun shop, the pops and booms muffled underneath us and replaced by classic rock playing over the store radio. We started by wandering through the aisles and examining their inventory — shelves filled with ammo, cleaning kits and tools, holsters, cases, optics and other accessories — before finally making our way to the gun counter.
“Can I help you find anything?” an employee asks us.
We gratefully accept his assistance and begin discussing the firearms we had just tried, making sure to mention the features we liked and disliked. He then recommended a pair of pistols — a Sig Sauer P365X and a Shadow Systems DR920 — that were similar to what we had tested, but more aligned with what we had originally been searching for.
The purchasing process itself was simple and required a more extensive background check, some paperwork, and of course, the payment. Colorado law states that you must wait three days to take home your firearms after purchasing, so we left empty handed that day, but returned the following weekend to pick them up along with some other supplies.
I know that the only way I’m going to become more comfortable handling a firearm is with practice, so after bringing our guns home, we immediately registered for a Basic Pistol 101 (CCW) course to become better educated on the ins and outs of our pistols. We also have tentative plans to visit a few other local firing ranges to gain more experience with shooting. All in all, the entire gun-purchasing process was relatively simple, albeit a bit unsettling at times, but I’m glad that I did it and am not only overcoming my fears but learning as much as possible about them.