State Gun Laws

It is illegal under Connecticut state law for a person to have a firearm or ammunition, and they can be denied a certificate to carry a revolver or pistol if they have been:

1. convicted of a felony;
2. convicted of any of the following misdemeanors within the past 8 years:
   • criminally negligent homicide;
   • assault in the 3^rd degree;
   • assault of an elderly, blind, disabled or pregnant person or a person with intellectual disability;
   • threatening in the second degree;
   • reckless endangerment in the first degree;
   • unlawful restraint in the second degree;
   • riot in the first degree;
   • riot in the second degree;
   • inciting to riot;
   • stalking in the second degree;
3. convicted of one of the following misdemeanors against a family or household member, committed on or after October 1, 2023:
   • criminal violation of a protective order;  
   • criminal violation of a restraining order;
   • criminal violation of a standing criminal protective order;
   • assault (1^st, 2^nd degree);
   • assault of an elderly, blind, disabled or pregnant person or a person with intellectual disability (1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd degree);
   • assault of an elderly, blind, disabled or pregnant person or a person with intellectual disability in the second degree with a firearm;
   • assault of a pregnant woman resulting in termination of pregnancy;
   • assault in the second degree with a firearm;
   • threatening (2^nd degree);
   • reckless endangerment (1^st and 2^nd degree);
   • strangulation or suffocation (1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd degree);
   • sexual assault (1^st degree);
   • aggravated sexual assault (1^st degree);
   • sexual assault (2^nd, 3^rd degree);
   • aggravated sexual assault of a minor;
   • sexual assault in the third degree with a firearm;
   • stalking (1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd degree);
   • harassment (1^st and 2^nd degree);
   • breach of the peace in the second degree; or
   • disorderly conduct;
4. convicted of a misdemeanor crime in another state, foreign country, or a federal, tribal, or military court within the past eight years in a case that involved:
   
   • a violent crime that caused physical harm to someone else;
   • causing someone’s death or serious injury (not in a car accident);
   • threatening or scaring someone so they feared for their safety;
   • taking part in or encouraging a riot; or
   • having controlled or hallucinogenic substances (except small amounts of marijuana, psilocybin, or nicotine);
5. convicted of illegal possession of a controlled substance other than cannabis on or after October 1, 2015;
6. convicted as delinquent for a “serious juvenile offense;”
7. discharged from custody within the past 20 years after having been found not guilty of a crime by reason of mental disease or defect;¹ or
8. convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence as defined by federal law.²

Also, under federal laws, which apply to all states, it is illegal to possess a firearm if a person was convicted of a felony or a domestic violence misdemeanor. Go to our Federal Gun Laws page to get more information.

¹ Conn. Gen. Stat. §§§ 29-36f(b); 53a-62(a)(1)(D); 46b-38h
² Conn. Gen. Stat. § 53a-217(a); 18 USC § 922(g)(2), (g)(4), (g)(9)