Sec. 29-28. Permit for sale at retail of pistol or revolver. Permit to carry pistol or revolver. Confidentiality of name and address of permit holder. Permits for out-of-state residents.
Sec. 29-28. Permit for sale at retail of pistol or revolver. Permit to carry pistol
or revolver. Confidentiality of name and address of permit holder. Permits for out-of-state residents. (a) No person who sells ten or more pistols or revolvers in a calendar
year or is a federally-licensed firearm dealer shall advertise, sell, deliver, or offer or
expose for sale or delivery, or have in such person's possession with intent to sell or
deliver, any pistol or revolver at retail without having a permit therefor issued as provided
in this subsection. The chief of police or, where there is no chief of police, the warden
of the borough or the first selectman of the town, as the case may be, may, upon the
application of any person, issue a permit in such form as may be prescribed by the
Commissioner of Public Safety for the sale at retail of pistols and revolvers within the
jurisdiction of the authority issuing such permit. No permit for the sale at retail of any
pistol or revolver shall be issued unless the applicant holds a valid eligibility certificate
for a pistol or revolver issued pursuant to section 29-36f or a valid state permit to carry
a pistol or revolver issued pursuant to subsection (b) of this section and the applicant
submits documentation sufficient to establish that local zoning requirements have been
met for the location where the sale is to take place except that any person selling or
exchanging a pistol or revolver for the enhancement of a personal collection or for a
hobby or who sells all or part of such person's personal collection of pistols or revolvers
shall not be required to submit such documentation for the location where the sale or
exchange is to take place.
(b) Upon the application of any person having a bona fide residence or place of
business within the jurisdiction of any such authority, such chief of police, warden or
selectman may issue a temporary state permit to such person to carry a pistol or revolver
within the state, provided such authority shall find that such applicant intends to make
no use of any pistol or revolver which such applicant may be permitted to carry under
such permit other than a lawful use and that such person is a suitable person to receive
such permit. No state or temporary state permit to carry a pistol or revolver shall be
issued under this subsection if the applicant (1) has failed to successfully complete a
course approved by the Commissioner of Public Safety 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 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, (2) has been convicted of a felony
or of a violation of subsection (c) of section 21a-279, section 53a-58, 53a-61, 53a-61a,
53a-62, 53a-63, 53a-96, 53a-175, 53a-176, 53a-178 or 53a-181d, (3) has been convicted
as delinquent for the commission of a serious juvenile offense, as defined in section
46b-120, (4) has been discharged from custody within the preceding twenty years after
having been found not guilty of a crime by reason of mental disease or defect pursuant
to section 53a-13, (5) has been confined in a hospital for persons with psychiatric disabilities, as defined in section 17a-495, within the preceding twelve months by order of a
probate court, (6) is 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, (7) is subject to a firearms seizure order issued pursuant to subsection (d) of
section 29-38c after notice and hearing, (8) is prohibited from shipping, transporting,
possessing or receiving a firearm pursuant to 18 USC 922(g)(4), (9) is an alien illegally
or unlawfully in the United States, or (10) is less than twenty-one years of age. Nothing
in this section shall require any person who holds a valid permit to carry a pistol or
revolver on October 1, 1994, to participate in any additional training in the safety and
use of pistols and revolvers. Upon issuance of a temporary state permit to the applicant,
the local authority shall forward the original application to the commissioner. Not later
than sixty days after receiving a temporary state permit, an applicant shall appear at a
location designated by the commissioner to receive the state permit. Said commissioner
may then issue, to any holder of any temporary state permit, a state permit to carry a
pistol or revolver within the state. Upon issuance of the state permit, the commissioner
shall make available to the permit holder a copy of the law regarding the permit holder's
responsibility to report the loss or theft of a firearm and the penalties associated with
the failure to comply with such law. Upon issuance of the state permit, the commissioner
shall forward a record of such permit to the local authority issuing the temporary state
permit. The commissioner shall retain records of all applications, whether approved or
denied. The copy of the state permit delivered to the permittee shall be laminated and
shall contain a full-face photograph of such permittee. A person holding a state permit
issued pursuant to this subsection shall notify the issuing authority within two business
days of any change of such person's address. The notification shall include the old
address and the new address of such person.
(c) No issuing authority may require any sworn member of the Department of Public
Safety or an organized local police department to furnish such sworn member's residence address in a permit application. The issuing authority shall allow each such sworn
member who has a permit to carry a pistol or revolver issued by such authority, to revise
such member's application to include a business or post office address in lieu of the
residence address. The issuing authority shall notify each such member of the right to
revise such application.
(d) Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 1-210 and 1-211, the name and address of a person issued a permit to sell at retail pistols and revolvers pursuant to subsection (a) of this section or a state or a temporary state permit to carry a pistol or revolver
pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, or a local permit to carry pistols and revolvers
issued by local authorities prior to October 1, 2001, shall be confidential and shall not
be disclosed, except (1) such information may be disclosed to law enforcement officials
acting in the performance of their duties, (2) the issuing authority may disclose such
information to the extent necessary to comply with a request made pursuant to section
29-33 for verification that such state or temporary state permit is still valid and has not
been suspended or revoked, and the local authority may disclose such information to
the extent necessary to comply with a request made pursuant to section 29-33 for verification that a local permit is still valid and has not been suspended or revoked, and (3)
such information may be disclosed to the Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction
Services to carry out the provisions of subsection (c) of section 17a-500.
(e) The issuance of any permit to carry a pistol or revolver does not thereby authorize
the possession or carrying of a pistol or revolver in any premises where the possession
or carrying of a pistol or revolver is otherwise prohibited by law or is prohibited by the
person who owns or exercises control over such premises.
(f) Any bona fide resident of the United States having no bona fide residence or
place of business within the jurisdiction of any local authority in the state, but who has
a permit or license to carry a pistol or revolver issued by the authority of another state
or subdivision of the United States, may apply directly to the Commissioner of Public
Safety for a permit to carry a pistol or revolver in this state. All provisions of subsections
(b), (c), (d) and (e) of this section shall apply to applications for a permit received by
the commissioner under this subsection.
(1949 Rev., S. 4158, 4159; 1959, P.A. 615, S. 19; P.A. 77-614, S. 486, 610; P.A. 90-155, S. 1; P.A. 92-130, S. 4, 10;
P.A. 93-172, S. 1; July Sp. Sess. P.A. 94-1, S. 4; P.A. 98-129, S. 6; P.A. 99-212, S. 19; P.A. 01-130, S. 4; P.A. 05-283, S.
4; P.A. 07-163, S. 2.)
History: 1959 act corrected typographical error; P.A. 77-614 replaced commissioner of state police with commissioner
of public safety, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 90-155 added provision re compliance with local zoning requirements;
P.A. 92-130 divided section into two Subsecs., inserting new language as Subsec. (b) to prohibit issuing authority from
requiring police officers to furnish their residence addresses in permit applications and to require issuing authority to allow
police officers who have a permit to carry a pistol or revolver on May 26, 1992, to revise such applications to include
business or post office address in lieu of residence address; P.A. 93-172 amended Subsec. (a) to require copy of state permit
delivered to permittee to be laminated and contain full-face photograph of permittee; July Sp. Sess. P.A. 94-1 amended
Subsec. (a) to require any person "who sells ten or more pistols or revolvers in a calendar year or is a federally-licensed
firearm dealer" to obtain a permit for the sale at retail of pistols and revolvers and to prohibit the issuance of such permit
unless the applicant holds a valid eligibility certificate or valid permit to carry, designated as Subsec. (b) existing provisions
re application for and issuance of permit to carry and amended said Subsec. to replace provision prohibiting the issuance
of such permit to an alien with provision prohibiting the issuance of such permit to any applicant who comes within any of
the six specified circumstances, add provision exempting current permit holders from additional training and add provision
requiring a permit holder to notify the issuing authority of any change of address, redesignated former Subsec. (b) as
Subsec. (c) and added Subsec. (d) re confidentiality of name and address of permit holders; P.A. 98-129 added new Subsec.
(b)(3) prohibiting the issuance of a permit to an applicant who has been convicted as delinquent of a serious juvenile
offense, renumbering the remaining Subdivs. accordingly, and replacing in Subdiv. (5) "hospital for mental illness" with
"hospital for persons with psychiatric disabilities", added Subsec. (d)(3) authorizing the disclosure of such information to
the Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services to carry out the provisions of Sec. 17a-500(c), and added new
Subsec. (e) to provide that the issuance of a permit to carry a pistol or revolver does not thereby authorize the possession
or carrying of a pistol or revolver where prohibited by law or by the person who owns or exercises control over the premises;
P.A. 99-212 added new Subsec. (b)(7) prohibiting the issuance of a permit to an applicant who is subject to a firearms
seizure order issued pursuant to Sec. 29-38c(d) after notice and hearing, renumbering remaining Subdiv. accordingly, and
made provisions gender neutral; P.A. 01-130 amended Subsecs. (a), (b) and (d) to establish state permits for sale at retail
and state permits to carry pistols and revolvers in place of local permits for sale and local permits to carry, added Subsec.
(b)(9) prohibiting a state permit to carry from being issued to persons under age 21, added Subsec. (f) providing for out-of-state residents to obtain state permits to carry, and made technical and conforming changes throughout; P.A. 05-283
added new Subsec. (b)(8) prohibiting the issuance of a permit to an applicant who is prohibited from shipping, transporting,
possessing or receiving a firearm pursuant to 18 USC 922 (g)(4), redesignated existing Subdivs. (8) and (9) as Subdivs.
(9) and (10); P.A. 07-163 amended Subsec. (b) to add provision requiring commissioner, upon issuance of state permit,
to make available to permit holder a copy of the law requiring reporting of the loss or theft of a firearm and penalties for
failure to comply with the law.
See Sec. 53-202 re penalties for illegal use or possession of machine guns.
See Sec. 53-206 re penalties for carrying or sale of dangerous weapons.
After defendant's loaded revolver was removed from his waistband while he was seated in his car after midnight in a
high crime area, officer justified in seizure and arrest of defendant under the circumstances of speedy information by
informant. 157 C. 114. Search of defendant's car, upon his arrest for breach of the peace, which yielded weapon was
incidental to his arrest and properly made. Id., 222. Cited. 163 C. 176. This section has the effect of placing the burden of
proof on alleged violators constituting a denial of due process and is therefore invalid. 165 C. 577, 597. Cited. 170 C. 81.
State must prove beyond reasonable doubt that proper permit had not been issued, since that is essential element of the
crime. Id., 234. Cited. 172 C. 21; Id., 94. Cited. 174 C. 22; Id., 405. Cited. 178 C. 534. Cited. 179 C. 516. Cited. 193 C. 7.
Cited. 209 C. 322. Cited. 222 C. 621.
Cited. 9 CA 169; judgment reversed, see 205 C. 370; Id., 330. Cited. 17 CA 556. Cited. 25 CA 433. Cited. 36 CA 576.
Cited. 38 CA 434. Cited. 39 CA 224; Id., 242.
Separate and distinct crime from the carrying of dangerous weapons on the person. 10 CS 272. Cited. 22 CS 173; Id.,
201. Cited. 23 CS 82. Cited. 35 CS 659. Cited. 42 CS 157.
Cited. 5 Conn. Cir. Ct. 119.
Subsec. (b):
Purpose of statutory scheme is to protect the public from individuals whose conduct has shown them to be lacking the
essential character or temperament necessary to be entrusted with a weapon. 46 CS 550.