State Gun Laws

It is illegal under Connecticut state law for a person to possess (have) a firearm or ammunition if any of the following are true:

1. s/he has a final restraining or protective order issued against him/her from any state in a case involving the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force;
2. s/he has been convicted of a felony;
3. s/he has been convicted of illegal possession of a controlled substance on or after October 1, 2015;
4. s/he has been convicted of any of the following misdemeanors within the past 20 years:
   • criminally negligent homicide;
   • assault in the third degree;
   • assault of an elderly, blind, disabled or pregnant person or a person with intellectual disability;
   • threatening in the second degree;
   • reckless endangerment in the first degree;
   • unlawful restraint in the second degree;
   • riot in the first degree;
   • riot in the second degree;
   • inciting to riot;
   • stalking in the second degree;
5. s/he has been convicted as delinquent for a “serious juvenile offense;”
6. s/he has been discharged from custody within the past 20 years after having been found not guilty of a crime by reason of mental disease or defect;
7. s/he has been confined on or after October 1, 2013, in a hospital for persons with psychiatric disabilities within the past five years by order of a probate court, or within the past one year if the person already has a valid permit or certificate to carry firearms;
8. s/he has been voluntarily admitted on or after October 1, 2013, to a hospital for persons with psychiatric disabilities or within the past six months for care and treatment of a psychiatric disability; Note: This does not apply if:
   • the person voluntarily admitted him/herself for alcohol or drug dependency; or
   • if the person is a police officer who voluntarily admitted him/herself and had his/her firearm returned for official use; or
9. s/he has a final firearms seizure order issued against him/her; 
10. s/he has a risk protection order or risk protection investigation order issued against him/her;¹ or
11. s/he has been adjudicated as a “mental defective” or has been committed to a mental institution.²

In addition, a person can be denied a certificate to carry a revolver or pistol if any of the following are true:

• s/he meets any of the conditions listed above; or
• any of the following apply:
  • s/he has an ex parte domestic violence relief from abuse order issued against him/her;
  • s/he has an ex parte civil protection order due to sexual abuse, sexual assault, or stalking issued against him/her;
  • s/he is under age 21; or
  • s/he is an “alien” who is illegally or unlawfully in the United States.³

Also, federal laws, which apply to all states, restrict an abuser’s right to have a gun if s/he was convicted of a felony or a domestic violence misdemeanor or if you have a final protection order against him/her that meets certain requirements. Go to the Federal Gun Laws page to get more information.

¹ C.G.S.A. § 53a-217(a)
² C.G.S.A. § 53a-217(a)(7); 18 USC § 922(g)(4)
³ C.G.S.A. § 29-36f(b)