The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is issuing this open letter to further assist the firearms industry and the public in understanding whether a “partially complete, disassembled, or nonfunctional” receiver of an AR-15/M-16 variant weapon has reached a stage of manufacture such that it “may readily be completed, assembled, restored, or otherwise converted” to a functional receiver, and is therefore classified as a “frame or receiver” or “firearm” in accordance with the final rule titled “Definition of ‘Frame or Receiver’ and Identification of Firearms (Final Rule 2021R-05F), which became effective August 24, 2022.

Colorado House Bill 1298 (HB1298) establishes a state requirement for an FFL in Colorado to obtain approval, in the form of a “proceed” response, from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) prior to any firearm transfers. HB1298 prohibits the CBI from approving a firearm transfer until the CBI determines that its background investigation is complete and that the transfer would not violate federal prohibitions on firearms possession or result in a violation of state law. 

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation will cease its operations as the NICS point of contact on March 31, 1999. Therefore, beginning April 1, 1999, in order to initiate a NICS check for any firearm, Colorado licensees must contact the FBI’s NICS Operations Center.