Connecticut gun laws require a state-issued permit or eligibility certificate before you can possess any firearm, run every sale and private transfer through a background check, ban open carry and most semi-automatic rifles with military-style features, cap magazines at ten rounds, and require every gun in your home to be locked up when not on your person. The rules sit in layers of state and federal law, and missing any one of them can turn lawful ownership into a felony.
What Credential You Need Before You Can Buy or Carry
Connecticut doesn’t let you simply walk into a store and buy a gun. The Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP) issues three different credentials, and which one you need depends on the firearm and whether you intend to carry it in public.
State Permit to Carry Pistols and Revolvers
If you want to carry a handgun in public, you need the State Permit to Carry Pistols and Revolvers. You must be at least 21. Applications start with your local police chief or town’s chief executive officer, who issues a temporary state permit after deciding you are a “suitable person” who intends only lawful use.1Justia. Connecticut Code 29-28 – Permit for Sale at Retail of Firearms, Permit to Carry Pistol or Revolver The local authority then forwards the application to DESPP, which runs state and national criminal history checks before issuing the permanent permit. The state fee is $70.2CT.gov. Connecticut State Pistol Permit The carry permit also lets you purchase handguns and long guns.
Pistol or Revolver Eligibility Certificate
If you want to own a handgun but keep it at home, you need a pistol or revolver eligibility certificate. The minimum age is 21, and you must complete an approved firearms safety course. For applications filed on or after July 1, 2024, that course must have been completed within the previous two years and must cover safe storage, lawful use, and lawful public carry.3Justia. Connecticut Code 29-36f – Eligibility Certificate for Pistol or Revolver DESPP fingerprints you and runs checks through both the State Police Bureau of Identification and the FBI.4FindLaw. Connecticut Code 29-36g – Application for Eligibility Certificate
Long Gun Eligibility Certificate
Rifles and shotguns require a long gun eligibility certificate under C.G.S. § 29-37p. The minimum age drops to 18, but the training and background screening are the same as for the pistol certificate.5Justia. Connecticut Code 29-37p – Long Gun Eligibility Certificate If you already hold a carry permit or pistol eligibility certificate, that credential also authorizes long gun purchases, and you don’t need a separate certificate.
Who Cannot Own a Firearm
Federal and Connecticut law each disqualify categories of people from possessing firearms, and the two lists stack on top of each other. Passing one screening does not help you if the other blocks you.
Federal law bars anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison, fugitives, unlawful users of controlled substances, people involuntarily committed to a mental institution, people subject to certain domestic violence restraining orders, and anyone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.6U.S. Marshals Service. Lautenberg Amendment The last category catches many people by surprise. A misdemeanor assault against a family member triggers a lifetime federal ban under the Lautenberg Amendment.
Connecticut adds its own disqualifiers. You are ineligible if, within the preceding 20 years, you were convicted of certain misdemeanors including assault, stalking, threatening, or harassment. A conviction for any crime designated as a family violence offense under state law disqualifies you regardless of when it occurred. A psychiatric confinement by court order within the preceding 60 months, or voluntary admission to a psychiatric hospital within the preceding six months, also disqualifies you.3Justia. Connecticut Code 29-36f – Eligibility Certificate for Pistol or Revolver
How Purchases and Private Transfers Work
Every firearm transfer in Connecticut requires a background check and an authorization number from DESPP. There is no private-sale loophole. The rule covers gun shops, gun shows, and sales between neighbors alike.
For handgun transfers, the person giving up the firearm must contact DESPP for an authorization number before the gun changes hands. DESPP runs an instant criminal background check and confirms the buyer holds a valid carry permit or pistol eligibility certificate.7Justia. Connecticut Code 29-33 – Sale, Delivery or Transfer of Pistols and Revolvers Both parties complete a prescribed form that records the serial number, make, model, and caliber. Copies go to local police, state police, and each party. Violating any part of this process is a Class C felony punishable by up to ten years in prison with a two-year non-suspendable minimum. If the firearm is stolen or has an altered serial number, the charge becomes a Class B felony with a three-year mandatory minimum.
Long gun transfers work the same way. The seller gets an authorization number from DESPP, and the buyer must hold a valid long gun eligibility certificate, pistol eligibility certificate, or carry permit. Private sellers can either contact DESPP directly or route the transfer through a federally licensed dealer.8FindLaw. Connecticut Code 29-37a – Sale, Delivery or Transfer of Long Guns Long gun sales also carry a two-week waiting period from the application date, but the wait is waived if the buyer already holds a carry permit or either eligibility certificate. Since Connecticut requires one of those credentials for a long gun purchase in the first place, the waiting period affects only a narrow set of exempt transfers.
Banned Weapons and Magazines
Assault Weapons
Connecticut bans assault weapons two ways: by naming specific firearms in the statute, and through a features-based test for everything else. Under the features test, a semi-automatic centerfire rifle that accepts a detachable magazine qualifies as an assault weapon if it also has any one of these: a folding or telescoping stock, a pistol grip or thumbhole stock, a forward pistol grip, a flash suppressor, or a grenade launcher. Semi-automatic pistols and shotguns have their own parallel criteria involving features like threaded barrels, barrel shrouds, revolving cylinders, or detachable magazines.9Justia. Connecticut Code 53-202a – Assault Weapons: Definitions
Possession without a valid certificate of possession is a Class D felony punishable by up to five years in prison, with one year that cannot be suspended.10Justia. Connecticut Code 53-202c – Possession of Assault Weapon Prohibited A first-time violation drops to a Class A misdemeanor if you can prove you lawfully owned the weapon before the relevant ban date and otherwise complied with storage and registration rules. People who lawfully owned assault weapons before each ban (1993, 2013, and 2023) had deadlines to register them with DESPP through a certificate of possession. The most recent deadline, for weapons newly classified in the 2023 expansion, was May 1, 2024.11Justia. Connecticut Code 53-202d – Certificate of Possession of Assault Weapon
Large Capacity Magazines
Magazines that hold more than ten rounds are banned. Selling, distributing, importing, or purchasing one is a Class D felony.12FindLaw. Connecticut Code 53-202w – Large Capacity Magazines Simple possession is a Class D felony if you are already prohibited from possessing firearms, or a Class A misdemeanor if you are otherwise eligible.
People who lawfully owned these magazines before January 1, 2014, had to declare them with DESPP. A second registration window closed on January 1, 2024, for anyone who missed the original deadline.13FindLaw. Connecticut Code 53-202x – Declaration of Possession of Large Capacity Magazine If you move to Connecticut with a large capacity magazine, you have 90 days to make it permanently inoperable, sell it to a licensed dealer, or remove it from the state. Military personnel transferred into Connecticut after January 1, 2024, can apply to declare the magazine within 90 days of arriving. Keep your original declaration paperwork accessible whenever you transport declared magazines.
Safe Storage at Home
Public Act 23-53 rewrote Connecticut’s safe storage law, often called Ethan’s Law. The old version applied only when the owner knew or should have known that a minor, a prohibited person, or someone at risk of self-harm could access the firearm. The current version applies to everyone. If you store or keep any firearm on premises you control, it must be in a securely locked container or stored in a manner a reasonable person would believe to be secure.14Justia. Connecticut Code 29-37i – Responsibilities re Storage of Firearms The only exception is a firearm you are carrying on your person or keeping close enough to retrieve and use immediately.
Children in the home are no longer the trigger. The duty attaches to any gun owner. A trigger lock, a locked gun safe, or a locked container satisfies the law. A nightstand drawer or closet shelf does not.
A separate statute imposes strict liability for damages when a storage violation lets a minor, a prohibited person, or someone posing a risk of self-harm obtain the firearm and cause injury or death.15Justia. Connecticut Code 52-571g – Strict Liability of Person Who Fails to Store Firearm Safely Strict liability means the injured party doesn’t need to prove you were careless. The unsecured firearm and the resulting harm are enough to establish financial responsibility.
Carrying in Public
Public Act 23-53 made Connecticut concealed-carry-only. You cannot knowingly carry a firearm with intent to display it in any public place. A fleeting glimpse of the firearm or an imprint through clothing does not count as a violation, and temporarily displaying a firearm during lawful self-defense is excepted.16Connecticut General Assembly. Connecticut Public Act 23-53 – An Act Addressing Gun Violence A first open-carry violation is a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. A later offense becomes a Class A misdemeanor with up to one year in jail and a $2,000 fine. Either conviction can trigger permit revocation.
Even with a valid carry permit, some locations are off-limits. You cannot carry on any public or private school property or at school-sponsored events. Firearms are banned in buildings where either chamber of the General Assembly meets, where legislative offices are located, or where a legislative committee is holding a public hearing. Private property owners can prohibit firearms on their premises by posting signage or giving verbal notice, and your permit does not override that.1Justia. Connecticut Code 29-28 – Permit for Sale at Retail of Firearms, Permit to Carry Pistol or Revolver Carrying into a school zone can trigger separate criminal charges for possession of a weapon on school grounds.
When Guns Can Be Taken Away
Connecticut was one of the first states to adopt a risk protection order process, often called a red flag law. Under C.G.S. § 29-38c, a Superior Court judge can order the seizure of a person’s firearms and ammunition on probable cause that the person poses a risk of imminent injury to themselves or others.17Justia. Connecticut Code 29-38c – Risk Protection Order
Two paths lead to an order. A state’s attorney or police officer can file directly with a judge. A family member, household member, or medical professional with a good-faith belief that someone 18 or older poses an imminent danger can apply through the court clerk for an investigation. The judge considers recent threats or violence directed at others, recent threats or violence directed at the person themselves, and recent acts of animal cruelty.
Once an order issues, police execute a warrant and seize all firearms, deadly weapons, and ammunition. Within 14 days, a court hearing decides whether the order stays in place. The subject of the order cannot petition to terminate it until at least 180 days after the hearing. If the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the risk continues, the firearms remain in state custody. The person can arrange to transfer their firearms to a federally licensed dealer rather than leave them with the state.