Background checks in Colorado surged in July 2026 as residents raced to buy up all the AR-15s and other semiautomatic rifles before Democrats’ new “assault weapons” gun control took effect. The effective date of the gun control was August 1. The Colorado Sun reported that the Colorado Bureau of Investigation “received 59,452 background check requests in July [2026].” By contrast, CBI only “processed 20,172 gun background checks in July 2025.” AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News.