Colorado honors concealed carry permits from 34 states, but only if you meet every condition at once. The condition to check first is residency....
Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
Colorado honors concealed carry permits from 34 states, but only if you meet every condition at once. The condition to check first is residency. Colorado does not recognize a permit issued by any state to someone who does not live in that state, so a non-resident Utah, Florida, or Arizona permit is worth nothing here.
The rule runs in one direction. Under C.R.S. 18-12-213(1), an out-of-state permit is "valid in this state in all respects as a permit issued pursuant to this part 2" when the issuing state recognizes the validity of Colorado permits and the holder meets the age and residency tests. Colorado signs no reciprocity agreements. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation puts it this way: Colorado law "passes the authority to grant a reciprocal status to the other states, once our Colorado permit is honored, reciprocity may be established." The list can change with no act of the Colorado legislature.
CBI restates C.R.S. 18-12-213 as a checklist and recognizes an out-of-state permit "only if all of the following criteria are met." Six bullets follow. The first five are the conditions; the sixth restates the non-resident bar:
The statute supplies the same elements: age 21 or older at 18-12-213(1)(a), and residency in the issuing state "as demonstrated by the address stated on a valid picture identification that is issued by the state that issued the permit and is carried by the permit holder" at 18-12-213(1)(b)(I). Subsection (2) defines that identification narrowly as "a driver's license or a state identification issued in lieu of a driver's license," which rules out a passport or a military ID.
Notice what is absent. Colorado imposes no permit-class qualifier. Neither 18-12-213 nor the CBI page distinguishes enhanced from standard permits. If you have read that Colorado honors only certain classes, that condition is not Colorado's.
CBI states the bar without qualification: "The State of Colorado does not recognize the validity of a concealed carry permit issued by any state, to a nonresident of that state (see C.R.S 18-12-213, as amended in 2007). Specifically, state law requires the state of residency of the person and the state of issue of a permit to match as proven by a valid driver's license or identification card issued by that same state."
CBI then applies the rule to Colorado residents by name: "A Colorado resident cannot legally carry concealed in-state using a nonresident permit issued by any other state."
Failing a condition is not a paperwork problem. C.R.S. 18-12-105(1)(b) makes carrying a firearm concealed a class 1 misdemeanor, and the permit exception at 18-12-105(2)(c) reaches out-of-state permits only through 18-12-213. Miss a condition and the exception is gone.
Per CBI, "Concealed carry reciprocity has been established with the following states": Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Per the same page, reciprocity "has not been established with the following states": California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, and Washington.
The two lists together account for 49 states plus the District of Columbia, with Colorado as the fiftieth, so absence from the recognized list is meaningful. CBI adds that this information "is also available to Colorado law enforcement through the CCIC system."
Neither the statute nor CBI addresses permits from Puerto Rico, Guam, or the U.S. Virgin Islands, so treat a territorial permit as unrecognized until CBI says otherwise. Neither addresses the Southern Ute or Ute Mountain Ute reservations. Ask the tribe.
C.R.S. 18-12-213(1)(b)(II) gives new arrivals a short bridge. In place of the issuing-state residency test, you may qualify as "[a] resident of Colorado for no more than ninety days, as determined by the date of issuance on a valid picture identification issued by Colorado and carried by the permit holder."
Getting the Colorado license starts the clock. It does not end it.
One genuine ambiguity: read literally, 18-12-213(1)(b)(II) replaces the residency-match element, which would arguably let a new Colorado resident ride ninety days on a non-resident permit. CBI publishes Colorado's recognition determination under 18-12-213, and it states the bar absolutely, with no ninety-day carve-out, and applies it to Colorado residents by name. Treat its reading as operative until a CBI clarification or an Attorney General opinion settles it.
Because an honored permit is valid "in all respects as a permit issued pursuant to this part 2," C.R.S. 18-12-214 binds you as it binds a Colorado permit holder:
An officer may temporarily disarm you incident to a lawful stop and must return the handgun before releasing you, 18-12-214(1)(b). See PROHIBITED_PLACES.
The same "in all respects" language makes C.R.S. 18-12-204(2)(a) your duty too. You "shall carry the permit, together with valid photo identification, at all times" while in actual possession of a concealed handgun, and "shall produce both documents upon demand by a law enforcement officer." Failure is a petty offense, and the charge "shall be dismissed by the court" if you exhibit a valid permit and photo ID that were both issued before the date you were charged.
Notice the overlap. The photo ID 18-12-204(2)(a) requires and the picture identification 18-12-213(1)(b)(I) requires are the same card, so one forgotten wallet defeats both, and not equally: the petty offense has a stated cure, the reciprocity condition does not, and missing it drops you back to 18-12-105(1)(b). See DUTY_TO_INFORM.
You do not have to leave the firearm at home. What you lose is concealed carry in public.
The line is the car door. Step out concealed without a recognized permit and you are inside 18-12-105(1)(b) with no exception available. See OPEN_CARRY.
LEOSA is a separate authority, not reciprocity. Under 18 U.S.C. 926B and 926C, a qualified law enforcement officer or qualified retired officer carrying "the identification required by subsection (d)" may carry concealed notwithstanding state law. Both sections preserve private property restrictions and restrictions on state and local government property, installations, buildings, bases, and parks. Read the (c) definitions first.
A permit answers a carry question, not a possession question. RESTRICTIONS and PROHIBITED_PLACES own this material.
18 U.S.C. 922(q)(2)(A) makes it unlawful to knowingly possess a firearm in a school zone, which 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(26) defines as school grounds or within 1,000 feet of them. The license exception at 922(q)(2)(B)(ii) covers a holder licensed by the state where the school zone sits, and only where that state's law requires law enforcement to verify eligibility before issuance, which Colorado's does, C.R.S. 18-12-205(4)(c). Whether a permit Colorado merely honors counts as a license issued "by the State" is genuinely open. You do not have to resolve it: 922(q)(2)(B)(iii) covers a firearm that is unloaded and in a locked container or a locked firearms rack on a motor vehicle.
Under C.R.S. 18-12-203(1)(a) a sheriff issues only to a legal resident of Colorado, a rule the Tenth Circuit upheld in Peterson v. Martinez, 707 F.3d 1197 (10th Cir. 2013). Service members stationed here under permanent duty station orders, and immediate family living here, are deemed legal residents "[f]or purposes of this part 2." Whether that deeming clause also satisfies the 18-12-213 residency test is unresolved, so the clean answer is a Colorado CHP. Note the asymmetry: 18-12-205(1)(a)(IV) accepts a "military order proving residence" on the application, and 18-12-213(2) rejects a military ID for reciprocity.
Colorado publishes an inbound list only. Its recognition is conditioned on the other state honoring Colorado permits, so each of the 34 states above had recognized Colorado when CBI published. That is an inference, not a published outbound list. CBI's instruction is to "contact the state you are visiting to confirm reciprocity and to review that state's firearms laws." Do that before every trip.
Minnesota shows why. handgunlaw.us, updated June 7, 2026, carries the note "MN only Honors CO Permits issued or renewed on or after 8/1/24." A Colorado CHP issued in 2022 and never renewed is valid in Colorado, Minnesota is on CBI's recognized list, and that permit is still not honored there. Colorado imposes no issue-date condition, so nothing on the CBI page would warn you. That is a secondary source. Confirm with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension before you drive.
| Belief | Reality |
|---|---|
| My Utah non-resident permit works here because Utah is on the list | The permit must be issued to a resident of the issuing state, C.R.S. 18-12-213(1)(b)(I) |
| I live in Colorado, so a non-resident permit covers me until my CHP arrives | CBI: a Colorado resident may only carry concealed in-state on a Colorado CHP |
| My passport or military ID proves residency | C.R.S. 18-12-213(2) allows only a driver's license or a state ID issued in lieu of one |
| Colorado has reciprocity agreements I can look up | Colorado signs none. Recognition follows the other state's law |
| Minnesota is on the list, so my Colorado CHP works there | A secondary source reports a Minnesota issue-date condition. Confirm with Minnesota |
| Citation | Subject |
|---|---|
| C.R.S. 18-12-213 | Out-of-state permits: age, residency, picture ID |
| C.R.S. 18-12-214 | Limits binding every permit holder |
| C.R.S. 18-12-204, 18-12-105, 18-12-105.6 | Carry and produce duty; class 1 misdemeanor and its exceptions |
| C.R.S. 18-12-203, 18-12-205 | Colorado residency, application, sheriff verification |
| C.R.S. 18-12-301, 18-12-302, 18-12-116 | Magazines and specified semiautomatic firearms |
| 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(26), 922(q), 926A, 926B, 926C | School zones, FOPA transport, LEOSA |
| Peterson v. Martinez, 707 F.3d 1197 (10th Cir. 2013) | No constitutional right to concealed carry; residency rule upheld |
Outside the ninety-day window in 18-12-213(1)(b)(II), a permit from one state and a driver's license from another gives you no concealed carry authority in Colorado, whatever the list says. Leave the handgun holstered and locked in the car.
This page covers one part of our Colorado concealed carry guide.
Read the complete Colorado guideBrowse local instructors offering state-approved training in your area. Book online, complete your training, and get one step closer to your concealed carry permit.