Quick Answer: Colorado’s home-storage law, C.R.S. §18-12-114, applies when an owner knows or should know an unsupervised juvenile or a legally barred resident could access a firearm — compliant storage means carrying it, keeping it within instant reach, or locking it in a safe or container. Violating it is a class 2 misdemeanor (up to 120 days jail plus a fine). Since January 1, 2025, a second statute, §18-12-114.5, separately requires handguns left in an unattended vehicle to sit in a locked, hard-sided container out of sight — enforced as a civil infraction. Colorado is the first state covered on this site to split home storage and vehicle storage into two entirely separate laws.
This guide covers what §18-12-114 actually requires at home, how the new 2025 vehicle rule works, and how Colorado’s two-statute structure compares to the eight other state frameworks already covered on this site.
A conditional home duty, same shape as New York and Connecticut
C.R.S. §18-12-114, enacted via HB21-1106 (2021), requires firearms to be stored “responsibly and securely” when not in use — but only once a specific trigger is met. The duty applies when an owner knows or reasonably should know that an unsupervised juvenile could access the firearm without a parent’s or guardian’s permission, or that a resident is legally barred from possessing firearms under state or federal law. That’s a conditional, household-composition trigger, not a blanket mandate — closer to New York’s §265.45 and Connecticut’s §29-37i than to California’s or Massachusetts’ universal duties.
| Statute | What it covers | Type |
|---|---|---|
| §18-12-114 | Home storage duty — triggers on juvenile/ineligible-resident access | Criminal, class 2 misdemeanor |
| §18-12-114 (dealer clause) | Dealer must include a locking device with every sale | Criminal, unclassified misdemeanor (up to $500) |
| §18-12-114.5 | Vehicle storage — handgun left unattended must be locked, hard-sided, out of sight | Civil infraction |
What counts as compliant storage at home
| Method | What it requires |
|---|---|
| Carried on the body | On the owner's person at all times |
| Direct-control proximity | Close enough to retrieve and use just as fast as if carried on the body |
| Locked safe or container | Locked in a gun safe, or another container a reasonable person would believe to be secure |
| Trigger lock | Rendered inoperable by a locking device engaged on the firearm itself |
That second option — the “direct-control proximity” carve-out — is why a mounted quick-access safe within arm’s reach satisfies the law even though the firearm inside isn’t physically locked to the owner’s body, the same logic Connecticut and New York build their proximity exceptions around.
SentrySafe QAP1BE Quick Access Pistol Safe
- A mounted biometric pistol safe like this keeps the firearm within the direct-control proximity §18-12-114 allows, without leaving it loose on a nightstand.
- Colorado doesn't tie compliance to a certified-device roster the way California does, so any genuinely secure locked container — biometric, keypad, or key — satisfies the standard.
The 2025 vehicle-storage rule — a genuinely separate law
Colorado is the first state covered on this site to pull vehicle storage out of its home-storage statute entirely. HB24-1348 added C.R.S. §18-12-114.5, effective January 1, 2025, making it illegal to knowingly leave a handgun in an unattended vehicle unless it’s locked inside a hard-sided container, kept out of plain view, inside a locked vehicle or a locked trunk — the container can be permanently affixed to the vehicle’s interior, which covers a bolted-in console safe as well as a portable lockbox. Long guns get slightly more flexibility: they can go in a locking soft-sided case instead of a hard-sided one, as long as they’re still out of sight and the vehicle is locked.
Exemptions cover antique firearms, on-duty peace officers, military service members, people actively hunting, and non-handgun firearms on a private farm or ranch. It’s enforced as a civil infraction rather than a crime — though sources genuinely disagree on the fine amount: the legislature’s own final fiscal note lists up to $100, while earlier bill-tracker summaries and news coverage reported up to $500. Colorado residents should treat $100-$500 as the realistic range rather than relying on either figure alone until the current statute text is checked directly.
Console Vault (vehicle-specific drop-in)
- A bolted-in console safe is explicitly covered by §18-12-114.5's allowance for a container "permanently affixed to the vehicle's interior" — it satisfies the hard-sided, out-of-sight, locked requirement in one install.
- Our best car gun safe guide covers console, underseat, and portable options side by side if a drop-in doesn't fit your vehicle.
How Colorado compares to the other eight states
| State | Duty model | Who it applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Colorado (§18-12-114 + §18-12-114.5) | Conditional home duty + separate vehicle statute | Juvenile or ineligible resident (home); anyone leaving a handgun unattended in a vehicle |
| Connecticut (§29-37i) | Criminal + civil + parental duty, split across 4 statutes | Minor under 18 or ineligible/at-risk resident |
| Florida (§790.174) | Conditional — triggers on foreseeable minor access | Owner where a minor's access is reasonably foreseeable |
| Texas (§46.13) | Reactive — liability only after a child actually accesses a loaded gun | Narrow: triggered by child access, not a standing duty |
| Oregon (SB 554) | Civil infraction, universal duty | Universal |
| Washington (RCW 9.41.360) | Criminal, result-based (access + use) | Prohibited person must gain access and use it |
| New York (§265.45) | Criminal, conditional duty | Minor or prohibited person resides in household |
| Massachusetts (§131L) | Criminal, universal functional-lock duty | Universal |
| California (SB 53) | Criminal, roster-gated device requirement | Universal |
Colorado’s home-storage trigger is close in shape to New York’s and Connecticut’s conditional models. But no other state on this list regulates vehicle storage as its own separate statute — Florida, Texas, and the others fold any vehicle scenario back into their general home-storage or child-access framework, if they address it at all. Colorado instead treats “firearm in a house” and “firearm in a car” as two different legal questions with two different enforcement tracks: a class 2 misdemeanor for one, a civil infraction for the other. Our Michigan gun safe law guide covers a tenth state that took the opposite structural choice — one conditional duty, with the vehicle scenario folded into the same statute rather than split out — enacted as a direct legislative response to the 2021 Oxford High School shooting.
The bottom line
Colorado gun owners face two separate questions, not one: whether a juvenile or an ineligible resident could reach a firearm at home under §18-12-114, and — since January 1, 2025 — whether a handgun left in a parked car is locked, hard-sided, and out of sight under §18-12-114.5. A mounted biometric pistol safe covers the first; a bolted-in console safe covers the second — together they clear both of Colorado’s storage laws with two purchases instead of one.
Sources: Child Access Prevention and Safe Storage in Colorado, Giffords Law Center; HB24-1348 Final Fiscal Note, Colorado Legislative Council Staff; C.R.S. §18-12-114, Colorado Revised Statutes.