Legislative updates, court decisions, and regulatory changes affecting Connecticut firearms law.
HB 5436 would classify firearm components (barrels, slides, frames, receivers) as "firearms" under Connecticut law, with background checks and storage requirements for parts subject to each statute's scope and exceptions. Also includes a provision allowing transfer of grandfathered assault weapons and LCMs.
HB05291 was enacted as Public Act 26-45. Its two-year risk-protection retention period and 90-day written destruction notice took effect October 1, 2026.
Public Act 26-41, as amended by Public Act 26-68, allows voluntary firearm and ammunition surrender for safekeeping, with return requests from day 15 through one year if eligibility conditions are met. The amended surrender provision took effect October 1, 2026.
Connecticut's Public Act 26-41 requires a seventy-dollar refund when a local permitting authority fails to discharge its obligations under CGS 29-28a(b)(1) or 29-29(b) or (c) within the applicable time limits. Fees for a permit that was not issued or renewed are refunded minus the portion spent on the national criminal history records check. A missed time limit under those provisions requires a seventy-dollar refund. Effective October 1, 2026.
The April 1 substitute for House Bill 05451 would allow certified police officers to carry firearms on school grounds at any time. The existing exception for peace officers performing official duties would remain.
A 2025 state audit reported 1,203 unheard Board of Firearms Permit Examiners cases as of March 13, 2024, with hearings scheduled through March 2026. The audit warned that appellants may be denied their right to a timely hearing.
NAGR v. Lamont challenges Connecticut's bans on assault weapons and magazines over 10 rounds. The Second Circuit affirmed denial of preliminary injunctions in August 2025.
Grant v. Higgins challenges Connecticut's assault weapons ban. The Supreme Court granted review June 30, 2026, with argument set for December 2, 2026.
Connecticut's HB 7042 (Public Act 25-43) creates civil liability for firearms industry members who fail to implement reasonable controls against illegal sales.
Connecticut's HB 6667 (Public Act 23-53) enacted gun reforms in 2023, banning open carry, expanding the assault weapons ban, and limiting handgun purchases.
House Bill 05436, which died in committee in 2026, proposed to update Connecticut's firearms definitions to cover major firearm components and unfinished frames or lower receivers. It would have expanded transfers of declared large capacity magazines between eligible possessors and allow dealer transfers of certified assault weapons to people who already lawfully possess another certified assault weapon.
The two-year firearm-retention period proposed in HB05435 was enacted in Public Act 26-45, which measures it from the risk-protection hearing instead of from the last petition to terminate the order. Since October 1, 2026, destruction is prohibited until at least two years after the risk-protection hearing, with written notice at least 90 days before destruction.
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