How to Renew a Connecticut Pistol Permit: Online, Mail, and Deadlines

A Connecticut pistol permit renewal goes through the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection’s Special Licensing and Firearms Unit (SLFU), either online or by mail, for a $70 fee. Your issuing authority sends a renewal notice about 90 days before expiration, and if your permit does lapse, state law gives you a 90-day grace period before it becomes non-renewable and you have to start over from scratch.¹

Renewal Timeline and Grace Period

The issuing authority mails a renewal notice to your last known address at least 90 days before your permit expires.¹ The letter contains the renewal form. If it never arrives, or you’ve moved, download the form from the DESPP website and get moving. Don’t wait for paper.

If the expiration date passes before you renew, your permit stays valid for 90 more days under Connecticut law.¹ You can still submit a renewal during that window. Once those 90 days end without a renewal, the permit cannot be renewed at all. At that point you would need to file a full new application through your local authority, including fingerprinting and the usual multi-week wait, as though you had never held a permit.²

Carrying a pistol or revolver in Connecticut without a valid permit is a Class E felony, and any firearm found in your possession during the violation is subject to forfeiture. Renewal timing is not just paperwork.

Where and How to Renew

State pistol permits, which cover nearly all Connecticut residents and every non-resident permit holder, are renewed through the SLFU regardless of which local police department handled your original temporary permit. Renewal is available online or by mail. There is no in-person renewal option.²

Renewing Online

SLFU encourages online renewal through the DESPP portal. The system prompts you to verify your information, upload your photo and proof of legal presence, and pay the $70 fee electronically. Online submissions typically process faster than mailed ones. If you get stuck, contact SLFU at DESPP.SLFU@ct.gov or (860) 685-8290.²

Renewing by Mail

Send your completed packet to:

DESPP–CT State Police
Special Licensing & Firearms Unit
1111 Country Club Road
Middletown, CT 06457³

Include a self-addressed stamped envelope with your submission.

What You Need to Submit

Whether you go online or by mail, you need the same materials.

Form DPS-129-C, the pistol permit renewal form. Fill in your permit number, date of birth, contact details, and current address. You sign under a notice that false statements are punishable as a Class A misdemeanor under Connecticut General Statutes Section 53a-157b. The renewal form itself does not need to be notarized.⁴⁵
A passport-style photo: full-face, 2″ × 2″, solid background, taken within the last six months.³
Proof of legal presence: a copy (never the original) of your U.S. passport, birth certificate, or USCIS permanent residence documentation.³
The $70 fee. For mail submissions, pay by check or money order made out to “Treasurer, State of Connecticut.” No cash. Online renewals accept electronic payment.²

Renewing an eligibility certificate or ammunition certificate is a separate process on a different form (DPS-129-C-2), and that one does require a notarized signature.⁵

Processing Time and Keeping Your Address Current

The issuing authority has up to eight weeks to approve or deny a renewal.² Online renewals often come back sooner. The new permit card goes to the address on file. If more than eight weeks have passed and your payment has cleared, contact SLFU at DESPP.SLFU@ct.gov or (860) 685-8290.⁶

Connecticut regulations require permit holders to notify the issuing authority in writing within two business days of any address change, including both the old and new addresses.⁷ State permit holders can update through the SLFU portal or by letter to the Middletown address.² This matters at renewal time because the 90-day advance notice goes to your last known address. Miss the notice and the grace period, and the permit is gone.

Conditions That Can Disqualify You From Renewal

Renewal is not automatic. You must still meet the same suitability requirements as a first-time applicant, and the SLFU can deny renewal or revoke your permit if a disqualifying event has occurred. The main disqualifiers:

Any felony conviction.
Certain misdemeanor convictions listed under Section 29-28(b).
An active court-issued restraining or protective order in a case involving the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force, for as long as the order stands.²
A firearms seizure order issued after notice and hearing under CGS 29-38c.
Involuntary psychiatric commitment by a probate court within the preceding 60 months, unless you have obtained a restoration of rights through probate court.⁸
Voluntary admission to a psychiatric hospital within the preceding six months, unless the admission was solely for alcohol or drug dependency.⁸
Discharge from custody within the preceding 20 years after a finding of not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.²

Submitting a renewal application will not paper over any of these. The issuing authority will deny the renewal and may move to revoke the current permit as well.

If Your Renewal Is Denied

You have 90 days from the date of the denial notice to file an appeal with the Board of Firearms Permit Examiners (BFPE), a nine-member civilian review board that hears permit denial and revocation appeals.⁹

Send an appeal letter, the three-page Appellant Questionnaire, and a copy of your denial letter (if you have one) either by U.S. Mail to Board of Firearms Permit Examiners, 165 Capitol Ave, Ste. 1070, Hartford, CT 06106, or by email to bfpe@ct.gov. The Board assigns a tentative hearing date, and the issuing authority that denied you must complete an Issuing Authority Questionnaire and give you a copy at least 10 days before the hearing. You receive the Board’s written decision within 20 days of deliberation. If the Board rules against you, you can appeal to Connecticut Superior Court under General Statutes Section 4-183.⁹

There’s also a separate track for delay. If your renewal application has been pending more than eight weeks without a decision, and you’ve made every reasonable effort to reach the issuing authority, you can appeal to the BFPE on the delay alone.⁹ That keeps the issuing authority from letting your permit expire while your renewal sits on a desk.

Replacing a Lost or Stolen Permit Card

A replacement is a separate process from a renewal. A replacement gives you a new card with the same expiration date; a renewal extends the permit for another term. If your card is lost or stolen, file a police report in the area where it happened and call the SLFU at (860) 685-8494 to report it. Then mail form DPS-900-C-1 with a $5 check or money order (payable to “Treasurer, State of Connecticut”) to the SLFU in Middletown. Replacements are handled by mail only.²

1
Justia. Connecticut General Statutes 29-30 – Fees for Permits for Sale at Retail of Firearms and for Carrying of Pistols and Revolvers. Expiration and Renewal of Permits
2
CT.gov. State Pistol Permit
3
State of Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection. Pistol Permit Renewal Form DPS-129-C
4
Justia. Connecticut General Statutes 53a-157b – False Statement: Class A Misdemeanor
5
CT.gov. Instructions to Applicants – Pistol Permits – New / Renewal by Mail / Eligibility Certificates / Ammunition Certificates (DPS-769-C)
6
CT.gov. SLFU
7
Legal Information Institute (LII) / Cornell Law School. Conn. Agencies Regs. 29-36m-9 – Notification of Address Change
8
Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. DSS – Gun Control
9
CT.gov. How Do I Appeal