HB 7042 (2025): Firearm Industry Responsibility Act

Governor Ned Lamont signed House Bill 7042 into law as Public Act 25-43 in June 2025, establishing the Firearm Industry Responsibility Act.^[1] The law took effect October 1, 2025, and creates a new legal framework requiring firearms industry members to implement "reasonable controls" to prevent illegal sales and misuse of their products.^[2]

Who Is Covered

The act applies to "firearm industry members," broadly defined as any person or entity involved in the manufacture, distribution, importation, marketing, wholesale sale, or retail sale of "firearm industry products."^[3] Firearm industry products include firearms, unfinished frames or lower receivers, ammunition, magazines and rate-of-fire enhancements. The definition covers products sold, made or distributed in Connecticut, or possessed in Connecticut when the industry member knew they would be sold, made, distributed or possessed there.

Reasonable Controls Requirement

HB 7042 requires industry members to establish, implement and enforce "reasonable controls" to prevent specified sales or distribution in Connecticut. These controls must ensure compliance with the applicable permit and eligibility certificate requirements and Section 2 of the act. They must also prevent in-state sales or distribution of products whose design is reasonably foreseeable to promote conversion of a legal firearm industry product into an illegal one.^[3] These controls must specifically address:

• Sales to straw purchasers
• Sales to firearms traffickers
• Sales to persons prohibited from possessing a firearm under state or federal law
• Sales to persons the industry member has reasonable cause to believe are at substantial risk of using a firearm industry product to harm themselves or another person, or of possessing or using it unlawfully
• Providing a firearm industry product to another industry member when there is reasonable cause to believe that member is violating Section 2 of the act

Advertising and Marketing Restrictions

The law prohibits firearm industry members from purposely and knowingly directing advertising, marketing or promotions of firearm industry products in Connecticut in a manner they know would promote unlawful sales, unlawful use or an unreasonable risk to public safety.^[4]

Enforcement and Remedies

HB 7042 creates a civil cause of action that may be brought by three categories of plaintiffs:^[1]

• Persons who have suffered harm in Connecticut because of a violation of Section 2 of the act
• A municipality's corporation counsel or other chief legal officer, acting in the name of the municipality
• The Connecticut Attorney General

Available remedies include injunctive relief, compensatory damages, punitive damages, restitution, costs, and reasonable attorney's fees.^[3]

Relationship to Federal PLCAA

The federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), enacted in 2005, generally bars civil lawsuits against firearm manufacturers, sellers and trade associations for harm resulting from the criminal or unlawful misuse of their products by the person or a third party. PLCAA contains an exception for an action in which a manufacturer or seller knowingly violates a state or federal statute applicable to the sale or marketing of the product, and that violation proximately causes the harm for which relief is sought. A claim under HB 7042 must satisfy those federal requirements to fall within this exception.^[3]

Out-of-State Misdemeanor Disqualifiers (Sections 4 through 6)

Beyond the industry liability provisions, Public Act 25-43 also changes eligibility for firearms permits and eligibility certificates in Connecticut. Section 4 of the act amended the carry permit provisions of CGS 29-28, then subsection (b) and now subsection (c), to add categories of disqualifying misdemeanor convictions from other states, federal, tribal or military courts, and foreign jurisdictions.^[2] Prior to this amendment, the disqualifying misdemeanors listed in the statute applied only to Connecticut convictions. Effective October 1, 2025, Sections 4 through 6 bar issuance of a State Pistol Permit, Handgun Eligibility Certificate or Long Gun Eligibility Certificate for misdemeanor convictions in another state, a federal, tribal or military court, or a foreign jurisdiction during the preceding eight years that a reasonable reviewer would believe fall within the act's specified categories. These include violence causing physical injury, conduct creating a risk of serious physical injury with extreme indifference to human life, criminally negligent death other than by motor vehicle, physical threats or courses of conduct causing reasonable fear for safety, and engaging in or inciting a riot. They also include possession of controlled or hallucinogenic substances, excluding less than four ounces of cannabis, less than one-half ounce of psilocybin or nicotine.^[3]

This change affects:

• New applicants for any Connecticut firearms permit or eligibility certificate who have out-of-state misdemeanor convictions during the preceding eight years for offenses such as assault, threatening, stalking, reckless endangerment, or controlled substance possession
• Current permit holders who acquire an out-of-state misdemeanor conviction that would be disqualifying under Connecticut law
• Persons who have relocated to Connecticut from another state and have a misdemeanor conviction there during the preceding eight years that a reasonable reviewer would believe to constitute one of the listed crime categories

The act applies an eight-year lookback to its listed Connecticut misdemeanors and to its new categories of misdemeanor convictions from other jurisdictions. The Connecticut controlled-substance disqualifier instead covers convictions on or after October 1, 2015, and the Connecticut family-violence misdemeanor disqualifier has no lookback period.^[5] Applicants who are unsure whether an out-of-state conviction qualifies as a disqualifying offense should consult a licensed attorney before applying.

What This Means for the Firearms Industry and Permit Applicants

Manufacturers, distributors, and dealers doing business in Connecticut should review their sales practices, distribution chains, and marketing materials for compliance with the new standards. The law requires reasonable controls and prohibits specified transfers, knowing advertising practices and knowing violations of state or federal law relating to the manufacture, distribution, importation, marketing, wholesale or retail sale of firearm industry products. Violations can lead to civil liability.

Persons with misdemeanor convictions from any jurisdiction should carefully review the list of disqualifying offenses under CGS 29-28(c) and determine whether a misdemeanor conviction from another state, a federal, tribal or military court or a foreign jurisdiction within the preceding eight years is one that a reasonable reviewer would believe to constitute one of the crime categories listed in the statute before applying for or renewing a Connecticut firearms permit.