What Is Connecticut’s Red Flag Law and How Does It Work?

Connecticut’s red flag law, formally called a risk protection order under Connecticut General Statutes Section 29-38c, allows a Superior Court judge to order the seizure of firearms, other deadly weapons, and ammunition from anyone 18 or older who poses an imminent risk of harming themselves or someone else. Connecticut enacted it in 1999, the first law of its kind in the country, and has since expanded who can bring a case to court. The order starts without the respondent present, must be reviewed at a hearing within 14 days, and, if confirmed, continues indefinitely until the respondent persuades a court to end it.

Who Can Ask the Court to Act

The statute creates two separate paths into court, depending on who is filing.

Prosecutors and Police

A state’s attorney, assistant state’s attorney, or two police officers acting together can file a sworn complaint directly with a Superior Court judge, asking for the order and a warrant to seize weapons. The officers must first investigate and independently conclude probable cause exists. A single officer cannot file alone.

Family Members and Medical Professionals

Amendments to the statute added a second track. Any family or household member, or any medical professional, with a good-faith belief that a person 18 or older poses an imminent risk of injury may apply for a “risk protection order investigation.”¹ This is not the same as a direct petition. The court reviews the application, and if it finds a good-faith basis, it orders law enforcement to investigate. If police then find probable cause, they must seek the actual risk protection order within 24 hours.

The statute defines “family or household member” broadly. It covers spouses, parents, children, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, step-parents, step-children, step-siblings, in-laws, legal guardians or former legal guardians, anyone currently living with the person, anyone who shares a child with the person, and anyone in a dating or intimate relationship with the person.² The petitioner must be at least 18.

What a Judge Looks For

The court does not act on vague concern. The statute lists specific factors a judge must consider when deciding whether someone poses an imminent risk:

Recent threats or acts of violence toward themselves or others
Recent acts of cruelty to animals as defined under Connecticut law
Reckless use, display, or brandishing of a firearm or other deadly weapon
Past use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against others
Prior involuntary confinement in a hospital for psychiatric disabilities
Illegal use of controlled substances or abuse of alcohol

The list is not exhaustive. The statute says the judge “shall consider, but shall not be limited to” these factors, so other evidence of dangerousness can also be weighed.¹

The sworn application needs to set out the factual basis for the belief that the person is dangerous, note whether the person holds any firearm permits or eligibility certificates, and give the location of any firearms, deadly weapons, or ammunition if known. Dates, descriptions of threatening statements, names of witnesses, and the respondent’s address all help the court evaluate urgency and give law enforcement what they need to serve the order safely.

How Weapons Get Seized

A judge can issue the initial order without the respondent present. This ex parte step exists because waiting for a full hearing could allow harm to occur in the interim. If the judge finds probable cause, the judge signs the order and, when applicable, a warrant authorizing police to search for and seize firearms, other deadly weapons, and ammunition.

Police then locate the person, serve the order, and execute the warrant. The order immediately prohibits acquiring or possessing any firearms, deadly weapons, or ammunition. The Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection must revoke any firearm eligibility certificates and carry permits the respondent holds. The court also enters a record into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) flagging the person as ineligible to buy firearms.¹ The initial order lasts no more than 14 days, during which a hearing must occur.

The 14-Day Hearing

The court must hold a hearing within 14 days of the order’s issuance or the warrant’s execution. The respondent must receive a copy of the order and notice of the hearing date at least three days beforehand. At the hearing, the standard of proof rises from probable cause to clear and convincing evidence, meaning the court must find it highly probable the person still poses an imminent risk of personal injury.¹

The respondent can hire a lawyer and present evidence and witnesses. The statute does not guarantee a court-appointed attorney, so a respondent who cannot afford one would need to find private counsel or seek help from legal aid.

If the court finds the evidence meets the standard, it continues the order and the state keeps the seized weapons. The court also notifies the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, which may then take action under state mental health law.³ The court itself does not order a mental health evaluation.

How Long the Order Lasts

Here is where Connecticut’s law differs from many other states’ red flag statutes. A risk protection order that survives the 14-day hearing does not expire after a set period. It remains in effect indefinitely until the respondent successfully petitions the court to terminate it.¹

The respondent can file a first petition to terminate no earlier than 180 days after the hearing. Once filed, the process works like this:

The court schedules a hearing 28 days out.
Local police have 14 days to investigate whether the petitioner still poses a risk of imminent injury. The fact that the person is already subject to the order cannot, by itself, support a probable cause finding.
If police find no probable cause, they notify the court, the hearing is canceled, and the order ends.
If police find probable cause, the hearing goes forward, and the state must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the person still poses a risk. If the state cannot, the order ends and the weapons are returned.

A respondent whose petition is denied has to wait another 180 days before filing a new one.¹ Someone who never petitions, or who keeps getting denied, can remain under the order for years.

Federal Firearm Consequences

The NICS entry triggered by a Connecticut order blocks the respondent from buying firearms anywhere in the country. The court enters that record immediately upon issuance.¹

Federal law under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8) separately prohibits firearm possession for people subject to certain qualifying court orders, but that federal prohibition is narrowly written. It requires that the order was issued after a hearing with notice and an opportunity to participate, that it restrains the person from threatening or harassing an intimate partner or their child, and that it either includes a credible-threat finding or explicitly prohibits physical force against the partner or child.⁴ Many Connecticut risk protection orders will not meet all of those criteria, especially orders that do not involve an intimate partner. The state-level NICS entry works independently of the federal prohibition and applies regardless of the relationship between the parties.

Rights of the Person Named in the Order

The statute builds in several procedural protections:

Notice of the order and the hearing date at least three days before the hearing.
A hearing within 14 days, so no one is left under an indefinite ex parte order without a chance to contest it.
The right to hire an attorney, though the court is not required to appoint one.
A higher burden of proof after the ex parte stage: clear and convincing evidence, with the state carrying that burden at termination hearings as well.
The right to petition for termination after 180 days, with an independent police review that can end the order without a hearing.

Courts have generally upheld extreme risk protection order laws against Second Amendment and due process challenges, pointing to the combination of judicial oversight, a defined evidentiary standard, and the respondent’s ability to contest and terminate the order.¹

1
Justia. Connecticut Code 29-38c – Adult Posing Risk of Imminent Personal Injury to Self or Others
2
Connecticut General Assembly. Connecticut Code Chapter 529 – Division of State Police
3
Connecticut General Assembly. Connecticut Code Chapter 529 – Division of State Police
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts