The Republican members of Colorado’s congressional delegation on Wednesday called on Gov. Jared Polis to veto legislation that would require purchasers of certain firearms to undergo gun safety training.

The GOP lawmakers said in a letter to the Democratic governor that Senate Bill 003 “blatantly infringes upon the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens,” while creating a “de facto gun owner registry” maintained by a state agency.

A Polis spokeswoman told Colorado Politics that the governor made sure the bill — which hasn’t yet arrived from the General Assembly for his consideration — didn’t include any bans on guns and allows state residents to purchase firearms of their choice so long as they participate in a gun safety education course.

Polis’ office also noted that while the governor appreciates hearing from the members of Congress, he hopes that the Republicans will likewise be open to his suggestions, including that they prevent cuts to Medicaid and stop President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff increases — announced by the White House on Wednesday — from taking effect.

Passed last week by the Democratic-controlled legislature with every Republican and some Democrats voting against it, the gun bill would mandate that Coloradans who want to purchase semiautomatic rifles, shotguns or handguns with detachable magazines first take a safety course run by Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

The legislation originally would have prohibited the purchase and sale of semiautomatic firearms with detachable magazines, commonly referred to as “assault weapons,” but sponsors amended the measure to instead establish the training requirements at Polis’ insistence.

Organized by U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank and signed by his fellow Republicans Lauren Boebert, Gabe Evans and Jeff Hurd, the letter tells Polis that changes to the legislation haven’t rendered it any more palatable.

“Colorado has a proud history of safeguarding its citizens’ constitutional right to bear arms,” the Republicans said. “Yet, for the past decade, the Colorado State Legislature has relentlessly pursued ever-increasing restrictions on responsible gun owners. If you fail to take a firm stance against these radical attempts to undermine our rights, you will only serve to empower criminals at the expense of law-abiding citizens.”

The Republicans maintain that despite “some amendments to the legislation to appear less restrictive,” the bill is still “one of the most restrictive gun ownership laws in the United States — on par with California and Illinois’ gun laws.”

Calling the bill’s requirements “riddled with bureaucratic hurdles,” the GOP lawmakers add that it would set up an arbitrary system that gives sheriffs the ability to block anyone in their counties from buying a gun.

“Not only does this new scheme come with additional fees and time commitments that no criminal will ever participate in, but it also gives any sheriff hostile to the individual — or semi-automatic firearms in general — carte blanche authority to block the enrollment,” the lawmakers said.

“Moreover, any Coloradan that manages to comply with all the hurdles will have their personal information stored in a de facto gun owner registry maintained by Colorado Parks and Wildlife.”

Polis’ office said in an email to Colorado Politics that the Republicans’ effort to influence his actions “goes both ways.”

“We appreciate hearing from members of Congress, and this goes both ways,” said Shelby Wieman, the governor’s press secretary. “For example, the governor strongly requests that they don’t make devastating cuts to Medicaid that will throw Coloradans off of health care and raise costs for everyone, and that they stop the president’s tariff tax hike – one of the largest in history — which is raising costs on Coloradans and businesses across the state.”

The Polis spokeswoman added that the governor is striving to improve public safety, a goal she said is shared by the final legislation.

“The reality is that the Governor is focused on improving public safety,” Wieman said. “The governor was clear he would oppose banning any guns, and his team worked with the sponsors, and got feedback from the hunting and sport shooting community, and members of law enforcement to amend the bill to address the overarching concerns, remove any bans on guns, and ensure people could continue to purchase the gun of their choice. The final bill allows responsible Coloradans to continue to purchase the gun of their choice as long as they receive gun safety education.”

Sponsors and supporters have argued the bill would help prevent mass shootings, pointing to attacks in Colorado at the Aurora movie theater, Boulder King Soopers and Club Q in Colorado Springs, which they said were all carried out using semiautomatic weapons with detachable magazines.

Opponents, including the gun rights advocacy group Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, have countered that the bill further chips away at the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens and forces the wildlife agency to handle responsibilities outside of its scope — without accomplishing its purported goal to stop violence.

Other critics have argued that that the slew of firearms restrictions approved by the Democratic-controlled legislature haven’t stopped gun violence, while at the same time making it difficult for Coloradans to defend themselves against criminals who don’t adhere to state gun laws.

The legislation — part of a three-bill firearms-related package that passed out of the legislature on Friday — drew praise from gun safety advocates and fierce opposition from Republican legislators and gun-rights advocacy groups.

“While other states fight to maintain their progress and a hostile federal landscape threatens gun safety, Colorado has emerged as a national leader when it comes to lifesaving action on our gun violence crisis,” said Angela Ferrell-Zabala, executive director of Moms Demand Action, a national organization that promotes gun control measures.

In a fundraising email to supporters, Ian Escalante, RMGO’s executive director, characterized the bill’s passage as “TREASON.”

“Should Polis sign it, this bill would be the harbinger of doom for the gun industry in Colorado. Purchasers will be forced to wait months for the class, pay undisclosed fees for BOTH permits and the class itself,” Escalante said, adding that the way the bill is written means “mandatory registry and expansion of this system to include the purchase and possession of all firearms is likely to come next year.”

— This story has been updated to include comments from a spokeswoman for Gov. Jared Polis. Colorado Politics statehouse reporter Marissa Ventrelli contributed to this report.