By now you've likely seen the news out of Twin Falls, Idaho: a mass shooting at an In-N-Out Burger on August 1, 2026, that left three victims dead and seven people injured before the gunman took his own life. We're not going to comment on the shooting itself — that's not what this site is for, and the facts of what happened, and why, are still being reported and investigated by people much closer to it than we are.

What caught our attention, as Colorado citizens who spend a lot of time reading this particular statute, is narrower and more specific. Twin Falls officials credited an armed citizen and an off-duty Idaho State Police trooper with returning fire, diverting the gunman and helping prevent further casualties. Police had not publicly identified the citizen as of our review, but Jordan Salinas subsequently identified himself in news interviews as that person and said he was carrying a suppressed FN Five-seveN. Setting the tragedy aside, that specific pistol raises a genuinely interesting question for Colorado readers: how would SB25-003 treat it?

How the Five-seveN actually cycles

The FN Five-seveN is chambered in 5.7x28mm and ships standard with a detachable magazine (commonly 20 rounds). FN describes it as "delayed blowback", and the design is documented in U.S. Patent 5,347,912, titled "Elements for decelerating the recoil of the moving parts of a fire arm." Mechanically, that description matters: unlike a Glock, 1911, or Sig P320 — where the barrel and slide are mechanically locked together and travel backward as a unit before unlocking — the Five-seveN has no barrel/slide lockup at all. The fired cartridge case itself, under gas pressure, drives the breech rearward directly. The "delay" comes from geometry and mechanical retardation built into the design, not from a locked breech disengaging the barrel.

In plain terms: it's a blowback gun, just an unusually refined one.

Why that distinction is the whole ballgame under SB25-003

Colorado's statute doesn't sort handguns into "gas-operated" and "recoil-operated" the way people casually use those terms. It defines them precisely. C.R.S. 18-12-116(1)(c) defines "gas-operated semiautomatic handgun" to include five specific mechanisms, and the fifth is written almost as if it were describing this exact category of gun:

"A blowback-operated system that directly utilizes the expanding gasses of the ignited propellant powder acting on the cartridge case to drive the breechblock or breech bolt rearward."

The exception that keeps most conventional pistols out of SSF territory — 18-12-116(1)(d)(II)(D) — is written narrowly: "a single or double action semiautomatic handgun that uses recoil to cycle the action." Every reading we've seen of that exception, consistent with how the term is used in the state's own guidance and industry-wide, treats "recoil-operated" as locked-breech operation — the Glock/1911/Sig category. A blowback design doesn't fit that description, delayed or not. It fits the statute's own blowback clause instead.

Put together: a Five-seveN, with its standard detachable magazine, appears to meet Colorado's definition of a "specified semiautomatic firearm."

Where we'd stop short of certainty

The Department of Revenue's July 1, 2026 guidance list does not currently include the FN Five-seveN by name. We checked. That's worth taking seriously, but it isn't the end of the analysis: the guidance document explicitly describes itself as illustrative rather than exhaustive, built around example models rather than a complete inventory, and subject to annual review. We made this same point in The List Isn't the Law — the list is a helpful reference, not the statute itself, and a gun's absence from it doesn't mean the gun is exempt.

We also haven't found a Statement of Position or declaratory order addressing this pistol specifically. So this is our reading of the statutory text, not a confirmed classification. The statute names blowback operation outright, and FN identifies the Five-seveN as delayed-blowback, but only the state’s formal classification process or a court could provide an authoritative answer for this model.

What this would mean, if we're right

If our reading is correct, buying, selling, or transferring an FN Five-seveN in Colorado after August 1, 2026, would require the same eligibility card and completed safety course as an AR-pattern pistol — not because of caliber, capacity, or the gun's reputation, but purely because of how it cycles. It would join the small group of handguns — the Desert Eagle is another example we've written about — that look and feel like "just another pistol" but may land on the regulated side of the statute for purely mechanical reasons most owners have never had a reason to think about.

None of this changes anything about what happened in Idaho, and we're not suggesting it should. It's simply a reminder of how narrow and mechanical Colorado's new line actually is — a line that runs through the internals of a gun rather than anything about how it looks, what it's chambered in, or the circumstances under which someone might need to use one.

As always, we are not lawyers — just Colorado citizens trying to understand the new law and share what we learn. The information on this website is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice, nor does it create an attorney/client relationship. The accuracy, completeness, or currency of the content is not warranted. Your use of content on this website is at your own risk. Consult an attorney about your specific circumstances.