Connecticut requires a person who wishes to carry a handgun concealed in public to obtain a permit.¹ Effective October 1, 2023, no permit is needed to carry a handgun within a person’s  “dwelling house, on land leased or owned by such person, or within the place of business of such person.²

A chief of police, warden or selectman shall issue a permit to carry a handgun to a person who:³

• Has a bona fide residence or place of business within the jurisdiction in which they are applying;

• Intends to make only lawful use of the handgun for which the permit will be issued;

• Is a “suitable person” to receive a permit;

• Has successfully completed a course approved by the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection in the safety and use of handguns;

• Has not been convicted of a felony or of a violation of:
  • Criminal possession of a narcotic substance;
  • Criminally negligent homicide;
  • Assault in the third degree or assault in the third degree of an elderly, blind, pregnant, or disabled person, or a person with an intellectual disability;
  • Threatening in the second degree;
  • Reckless endangerment in the first degree;
  • Unlawful restraint in the second degree;
  • Riot in the first or second degree or inciting to riot;
  • Stalking in the second degree; or
  • As of October 1, 2023, a family violence crime.
• Has not been convicted as a delinquent for the commission of a serious juvenile offense;⁴

• Has not been discharged from custody within the preceding 20 years after having been found not guilty of a crime by reason of mental disease or defect;⁵

• Has not been confined in a hospital for persons with psychiatric disabilities within the preceding 12 months by order of a probate court;

• Is not subject to a restraining or protective order issued by a court in a case involving the use, attempted use or threatened use of physical force against another person;

• Is not subject to a firearms seizure order issued for posing risk of imminent personal injury to self or others after notice and a hearing;⁶

• Is not prohibited from shipping, transporting, possessing or receiving a firearm pursuant to the mental health prohibitions under federal law;⁷

• Is not an alien illegally or unlawfully in the United States;

• Is at least 21 years of age; and
• Effective October 1, 2023, is not a fugitive from justice, and has not been convicted in any court of a “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence” as defined under federal law.

Connecticut courts have held that the “suitable person” standard precludes permits only to those “individuals whose conduct has shown them to be lacking the essential character of temperament necessary to be entrusted with a weapon.”⁸

Any person violating the concealed weapons permitting provisions will, in addition to other criminal penalties, be forced to forfeit any handgun found in his or her possession.⁹

In N.Y. State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen, the U.S. Supreme Court indicated that Connecticut’s concealed carry permit system did not violate the Second Amendment because it contained “narrow, objective, and definite standards” guiding licensing officials and was designed “to ensure only that those bearing arms . . . are, in fact, law-abiding, responsible citizens.”¹⁰

Firearm Safety Training

Connecticut requires that applicants for a state concealed weapons permit first successfully complete a course approved by the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection in the safety and use of pistols and revolvers including, but not limited to, a safety or training course in the use of pistols and revolvers available to the public offered by a law enforcement agency, a private or public educational institution or a firearms training school, utilizing instructors certified by the National Rifle Association or the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, and a safety or training course in the use of pistols or revolvers conducted by an instructor certified by the state or the National Rifle Association.¹¹

Beginning July 1, 2024, applicants must have completed the training within two years prior to the submission of their application; the training must also include instruction in state law requirements for the safe storage of firearms in the home and in vehicles, lawful use of firearms and lawful carrying of firearms in public.¹².

Duration & Renewal

A permit to carry a handgun is valid for up to five years from the date the permit became effective.¹³ Each renewal permit is valid for five years.¹⁴Connecticut enacted a law in 2011 allowing individuals to renew permits by mail.¹⁵ There is no safety training requirement upon renewal.

Disclosure or Use of Information

Connecticut does not allow personal application or permit information of concealed weapons permit holders to be made public. The name and address of a person issued a state permit to carry a handgun or a local permit to carry a handgun issued prior to October 1, 2001 (the effective date of the law authorizing state-issue permits in place of local permits), may not be disclosed, except to:

• Law enforcement officials acting in the performance of their duties;

• Firearms transferors making requests for verification that such state, local or temporary state permit is still valid and has not been suspended or revoked; and

• The Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services for persons subject to an order of mental health commitment.¹⁶

Reciprocity

A bona fide resident of the United States who does not reside or work in Connecticut and holds a concealed handgun permit issued by another state may apply to the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection for a permit to carry a handgun in Connecticut.¹⁷

MEDIA REQUESTS

Our experts can speak to the full spectrum of gun violence prevention issues. Have a question? Email us at media@giffords.org.

Contact

1. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 29-35(a).[↩]
2. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 29-35(a)(1).[↩]
3. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 29-28(b).[↩]
4. See  Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46b-120.[↩]
5. See  Conn. Gen. Stat. § 53a-13.[↩]
6. See  Conn. Gen. Stat. § 29-38c(d).[↩]
7. See 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(4) (persons who have been adjudicated as a mental defective or who have been committed to a mental institution).[↩]
8. See N.Y. State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen, 142 S. Ct. 2111, 2123 n.1 (2022) (quoting Dwyer v. Farrell, 193 Conn. 7, 12, 475 A. 2d 257, 260 (1984).[↩]
9. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 29-37(a).[↩]
10. 142 S. Ct. 2111, 238 n.9 (2022).[↩]
11. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 29-28(b).[↩]
12. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 29-28(b)(1)(B).[↩]
13. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 29-30(c).[↩]
14. Id.[↩]
15. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 29-30(f).[↩]
16. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 29-28(d).[↩]
17. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 29-28(f).[↩]