“It is an infringement on our Second Amendment rights,” said Scott Renfroe, a Republican state senator from Greeley, in northern Colorado. “You can’t make enough laws to stop the criminals. Criminals never obey the law. All you’re doing is making it harder for citizens to enjoy the rights they have in this country.”

Mr. Hickenlooper, a former mayor of Denver, geologist and brewpub owner, also reiterated calls for the Legislature to pass civil union legislation for same-sex couples — a near certainty given the new Democratic majorities in both houses. Last May, Republicans, who then controlled the State House of Representatives, defeated a civil unions bill.

He said that Colorado’s economy was back from the depths of the recession, though the state unemployment rate is still 7.7 percent, on par with the national level, according to the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. He also said that regulators were working to determine the legal and policy effects of a voter-approved measure that legalized small amounts of marijuana and called for new laws to guard against people who drive while impaired.

In large part, the governor’s speech was shaped by a year tainted by tragedy.

He led a moment of silence for the 12 people killed and scores wounded in the Aurora theater shooting in July. He discussed a drought that destroyed fields and crops, and summertime wildfires that charred hundreds of homes and forced thousands of people to flee.

Over the last several months, Mr. Hickenlooper has slowly waded into the emotionally charged debate over gun control.