Firearms and Security Training

New Connecticut Firearms Related Laws In 2016

The three bills that passed this session are:
H.B. No. 5054 AN ACT PROTECTING VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
H.B. No. 20 AN ACT CONCERNING CARRYING A FIREARM WHILE INTOXICATED OR UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL
S.B. No. 455 AN ACT CONCERNING WEAPONS IN VEHICLES

 

A Complete List of ALL Bills Passed this session can be found here: https://www.cga.ct.gov/2016/lbp/lobp.htm

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H.B. No. 5054 AN ACT PROTECTING VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE (Effective 2 October 1, 2016)
- Shortens the deadline by which a person must transfer, deliver, or surrender his or her firearms, ammunition and permits, if they becomes ineligible to possess them as a result of becoming subject to a civil restraining order, civil protection order, criminal protective order, or foreign order of protection involving force, to 24 hours. It extends these requirements to ex parte orders (i.e., those issued without a prior hearing).
- Gives people who must surrender their firearms, ammunition and permits the option of surrendering them to a municipal police department on the DESPP commissioner's behalf, instead of just to the DESPP commissioner. It requires the police department, as is currently the case for the DESPP commissioner, to exercise due care when receiving and holding the firearms.
-The Police must destroy any firearms or ammunition that have not been transferred back by the end of one year.
-Currently, a person subject to an order of protection who violates the firearms and ammunition transfer, delivery, or surrender requirement is guilty of criminal possession of a firearm or ammunition as applicable. The bill extends these penalties to people who commit such violations while subject to an ex parte order. By law, criminal possession of a firearm or ammunition is a class C felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison with a two-year mandatory minimum.
-Requires the DESPP commissioner, in conjunction with the chief state's attorney and the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association, to develop a protocol to ensure that people who become ineligible to possess firearms transfer, deliver, or surrender them as appropriate. The bill requires the commissioner to update the protocol to appropriately apply to the bill's provisions.
-The DESPP commissioner must not issue a gun permit, handgun eligibility certificate, or long gun eligibility certificate to anyone subject to an ex parte order. By law, the commissioner may revoke a permit or certificate for any event that would have disqualified the holder from being issued such a credential.
-Under the bill, DESPP must reinstate a gun or ammunition credential it revoked based on an ex parte order, if the order expires and the respondent, who is not otherwise disqualified, notifies DESPP and it verifies the expiration.
https://www.cga.ct.gov/20…/…/pdf/2016HB-05054-R000750-FC.pdf

S.B. No. 20 AN ACT CONCERNING CARRYING A FIREARM WHILE INTOXICATED OR UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL (Effective 2 October 1, 2016)
- This bill lowers, from .10% to .08%, the blood alcohol content (BAC) level that triggers a presumptive violation of the law's prohibition on carrying a loaded firearm while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
https://www.cga.ct.gov/20…/TOB/s/pdf/2016SB-00020-R00-SB.pdf

S.B. No. 455 AN ACT CONCERNING WEAPONS IN VEHICLES (Effective 2 October 1, 2016)
- This bill codifies case law by exempting, from the existing ban on carrying certain weapons in a vehicle, someone having a dirk knife or police baton in a vehicle while lawfully moving his or her household goods or effects from one place to another or from one residence to another. (State v. Deciccio)
https://www.cga.ct.gov/20…/TOB/s/pdf/2016SB-00455-R00-SB.pdf