Persons Falling into State Prohibited Categories
Generally, whenever a person becomes ineligible to possess a firearm, he or she has two business days from the event causing the ineligibility to transfer any firearm in his or her possession to any person eligible to possess them.1 The person must obtain an authorization number for the sale or transfer from the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection and submit a sale or transfer form to the Commissioner within two business days. The ineligible person may alternatively surrender the firearm(s) to the Commissioner through a local police department.2 The ineligible person must also transfer any ammunition in his or her possession to an eligible person.3 However, pursuant to a law Connecticut adopted in 2016, a person who becomes ineligible because of the issuance of a domestic violence protective order must sell any firearm or ammunition in his or her possession only to a federally licensed firearms dealer or surrender them to the Commissioner through a local police department, within 24 hours of notice of the protective order.4
The Commissioner, in conjunction with the Chief State’s Attorney and the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association, must develop and maintain a protocol to ensure that persons who become ineligible to possess a firearm have transferred the gun to an eligible person, or have delivered or surrendered the firearm to the Commissioner. The protocol must include specific instructions for the transfer, delivery or surrender of guns when the assistance of more than one law enforcement agency is necessary to effect these requirements.5
Gun Possessors Posing Imminent Risk of Injury
For information about Connecticut’s extreme risk law, see Extreme Risk Protection Orders in Connecticut.
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