Sec. 53-203. Unlawful discharge of firearms.
Sec. 53-206. Carrying of dangerous weapons prohibited.
Sec. 53-206h. Bump stocks or other rates of fire enhancement prohibition. Notice.
Sec. 53-203. Unlawful discharge of firearms. (a) Any person who intentionally, negligently or carelessly discharges any firearm in such a manner as to be likely to cause bodily injury or death to persons or domestic animals, or the wanton destruction of property, shall be guilty of a class C misdemeanor.
(b) The provisions of subsection (a) of this section shall not be construed to prohibit the intentional discharge of a firearm for the purpose of lawful self-defense or lawful defense of another person.
(1949 Rev., S. 8521; P.A. 73-457; P.A. 12-80, S. 103; P.A. 25-43, S. 7.)
History: P.A. 73-457 essentially rewrote provisions, which previously prohibited discharging firearms “in any city or borough, except on military occasions, without permission first obtained from the mayor of such city or the warden of such borough” and which had imposed fine for firing cannon without permit applicable to proprietors or persons in charge of private military schools, to forbid discharging firearm so as to harm persons, domestic animals or property and to increase maximum fine from $7 to $250 and maximum imprisonment from 30 days to 3 months; P.A. 12-80 replaced penalty of a fine of not more than $250 or imprisonment of not more than 3 months or both with a class C misdemeanor; P.A. 25-43 designated existing language as Subsec. (a) and added Subsec. (b) re lawful self-defense or defense of another person.
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Sec. 53-206. Carrying of dangerous weapons prohibited. (a) Any person who carries upon his or her person any BB. gun, blackjack, metal or brass knuckles, or any dirk knife, or any switch knife, or any knife having an automatic spring release device by which a blade is released from the handle, having a blade of over one and one-half inches in length, or stiletto, or any knife the edged portion of the blade of which is four inches or more in length, any police baton or nightstick, or any martial arts weapon or electronic defense weapon, as defined in section 53a-3, or any other dangerous or deadly weapon or instrument, shall be guilty of a class E felony. Whenever any person is found guilty of a violation of this section, any weapon or other instrument within the provisions of this section, found upon the body of such person, shall be forfeited to the municipality wherein such person was apprehended, notwithstanding any failure of the judgment of conviction to expressly impose such forfeiture.
(b) The provisions of this section shall not apply to (1) any officer charged with the preservation of the public peace while engaged in the pursuit of such officer's official duties; (2) the carrying of a less lethal weapon, as defined in section 29-161q, by a licensed security officer or a person who meets the requirements of subsection (h) of section 29-161q while engaged in the pursuit of such officer's or person's official duties; (3) the carrying of a knife, the edged portion of the blade of which is four inches or more in length, by (A) any member of the armed forces of the United States, as defined in section 27-103, or any reserve component thereof, or of the armed forces of the state, as defined in section 27-2, when on duty or going to or from duty, (B) any member of any military organization when on parade or when going to or from any place of assembly, (C) any person while transporting such knife as merchandise or for display at an authorized gun or knife show, (D) any person who is found with any such knife concealed upon one's person while lawfully removing such person's household goods or effects from one place to another, or from one residence to another, (E) any person while actually and peaceably engaged in carrying any such knife from such person's place of abode or business to a place or person where or by whom such knife is to be repaired, or while actually and peaceably returning to such person's place of abode or business with such knife after the same has been repaired, (F) any person holding a valid hunting, fishing or trapping license issued pursuant to chapter 490 or any saltwater fisherman carrying such knife for lawful hunting, fishing or trapping activities, or (G) any person while participating in an authorized historic reenactment; (4) the carrying by any person enrolled in or currently attending, or an instructor at, a martial arts school of a martial arts weapon while in a class or at an authorized event or competition or while transporting such weapon to or from such class, event or competition; (5) the carrying of a BB. gun by any person taking part in a supervised event or competition of the Boy Scouts of America or the Girl Scouts of America or in any other authorized event or competition while taking part in such event or competition or while transporting such weapon to or from such event or competition; (6) the carrying of an electronic defense weapon, as defined in section 53a-3, by any person who is twenty-one years of age or older and possesses a permit or certificate issued under the provisions of section 29-28, 29-36f, 29-37p or 29-38n; and (7) the carrying of a BB. gun by any person upon such person's own property or the property of another person provided such other person has authorized the carrying of such weapon on such property, and the transporting of such weapon to or from such property.
(1949 Rev., S. 8540; 1953, S. 3287d; P.A. 86-287, S. 1; P.A. 87-220, S. 1; P.A. 98-129, S. 9; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 98-1, S. 120, 121; P.A. 99-212, S. 12; P.A. 03-19, S. 123; P.A. 10-32, S. 148; P.A. 13-258, S. 30; P.A. 14-122, S. 57; P.A. 21-31, S. 2; P.A. 25-157, S. 4.)
History: P.A. 86-287 amended Subsecs. (a) and (b) by adding “or any martial arts weapon and electronic defense weapon as defined in section 53a-3” and amended Subsec. (a) by adding provision permitting person to carry any martial arts weapon anywhere within state if such person has been granted a permit to do so; P.A. 87-220 made technical changes; P.A. 98-129 replaced requirement that a permit be obtained for the carrying of certain dangerous or deadly weapons or instruments with prohibition on the carrying of such weapons or instruments, deleted slung shot, air rifles and sand bags from the list of prohibited weapons or instruments, added exception for the carrying of knives with blades of four inches or more by certain individuals and deleted requirement that the seller of any such weapon or instrument give written notice of any such sale to the chief of police of the city, warden of the borough or first selectman of the town where such weapon or instrument was sold or delivered; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 98-1 repealed all changes enacted by P.A. 98-129, effective June 24, 1998; P.A. 99-212 substantially revised section including replacing requirement that a permit be obtained for the carrying of certain dangerous or deadly weapons or instruments with prohibition on the carrying of such weapons or instruments, deleting slung shot, air rifle and sand bag from list of prohibited weapons and instruments, adding police baton or nightstick to list of prohibited weapons and instruments, making the exception for an officer charged with preservation of the public peace applicable while the officer is “engaged in the pursuit of such officer's official duties”, adding exception for the carrying of a baton or nightstick by a security guard while engaged in the guard's official duties, adding exception for the carrying of a knife having a blade of four inches or more by certain individuals under certain circumstances, adding exception for the carrying of a martial arts weapon by a student or instructor at a martial arts school under certain circumstances, adding exception for the carrying of a BB. gun by a person taking part in certain supervised or authorized events or competitions under certain circumstances, adding exception for the carrying of a BB. gun on private property with the authorization of the owner and the transporting of such weapon to or from such property and deleting the requirement that the seller of any such weapon or instrument give written notice of such sale to the chief of police of the city, warden of the borough or first selectman of the town where such weapon or instrument was sold or delivered; P.A. 03-19 made a technical change in Subsec. (a), effective May 12, 2003; P.A. 10-32 made technical changes, effective May 10, 2010; P.A. 13-258 amended Subsec. (a) to change penalty from fine of not more than $500 or imprisonment of not more than 3 years to a class E felony; P.A. 14-122 made a technical change in Subsec. (b)(3)(F); P.A. 21-31 amended Subsec. (b) by adding new Subdiv. (6) re electronic defense weapons and redesignating existing Subdiv. (6) as Subdiv. (7), effective July 1, 2021; P.A. 25-157 amended Subsec. (b)(2) to replace “baton or nightstick by a security guard while engaged in the pursuit of such guard's” with “less lethal weapon, as defined in section 29-161q, by a licensed security officer or a person who meets the requirements of subsection (h) of section 29-161q while engaged in the pursuit of such officer's or person's”.
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Sec. 53-206g. Sale, possession, use or manufacture of bump stocks or other rates of fire enhancement prohibited. Class D felony or class D misdemeanor. (a) Except as provided in subsection (e) of this section, no person, other than a licensed firearms manufacturer under 18 USC 923(i) fulfilling a military contract, may sell, offer to sell, otherwise transfer or offer to transfer, purchase, possess, use or manufacture any rate of fire enhancement.
(b) Except as provided in subsection (d) of this section, a person who violates any provision of subsection (a) of this section shall be guilty of a class D felony.
(c) For purposes of this section, “firearm” means firearm as defined in section 53a-3, and “rate of fire enhancement” means any device, component, part, combination of parts, attachment or accessory that: (1) Uses energy from the recoil of a firearm to generate a reciprocating action that causes repeated function of the trigger, including, but not limited to, a bump stock; (2) repeatedly pulls the trigger of a firearm through the use of a crank, lever or other part, including, but not limited to, a trigger crank; or (3) causes a semiautomatic firearm to fire more than one round per operation of the trigger, where the trigger pull and reset constitute a single operation of the trigger, including, but not limited to, a binary trigger system.
(d) Except as provided in subsection (e) of this section, any person who holds a valid permit to carry a pistol or revolver issued pursuant to subsection (c) of section 29-28, a valid eligibility certificate for a pistol or revolver issued pursuant to section 29-36f, a valid long gun eligibility certificate issued pursuant to section 29-37p or an ammunition certificate issued or renewed pursuant to section 29-38n or section 29-38o and possesses a rate of fire enhancement prior to July 1, 2019, shall be guilty of a class D misdemeanor for a first offense and shall be guilty of a class D felony for any subsequent offense.
(e) (1) (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B) of this subdivision, any person who moves into the state in lawful possession of a rate of fire enhancement shall, within ninety days, render the rate of fire enhancement permanently inoperable, remove the rate of fire enhancement from this state, or surrender the rate of fire enhancement to the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection for destruction and, during such ninety-day period, shall not be subject to the penalties in subsection (b) or (d) of this section.
(B) Any such person who sells or offers to sell or otherwise transfers or offers to transfer, except as permitted by subparagraph (A) of this subdivision, or uses such rate of fire enhancement during such ninety-day period, shall be subject to the penalties in subsection (b) or (d) of this section, as applicable.
(2) (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B) of this subdivision, any military personnel stationed or otherwise residing in this state who is deployed from this state on October 1, 2018, or is under deployment from this state on said date, and who was in lawful possession of a rate of firearm enhancement on September 30, 2018, shall, within ninety days of returning to this state from deployment, render the rate of fire enhancement permanently inoperable, remove the rate of fire enhancement from this state or surrender the rate of fire enhancement to the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection for destruction.
(B) Except as provided in subparagraph (A) of this subdivision, any such military personnel who sells or offers to sell or otherwise transfers or offers to transfer, except as permitted by subparagraph (A) of this subdivision, or uses such rate of fire enhancement during such ninety-day period, shall be subject to the penalties in subsection (b) or (d) of this section, as applicable.
(f) If the court finds that a violation of this section is not of a serious nature and that the person charged with such violation (1) will probably not offend in the future, (2) has not previously been convicted of a violation of this section, and (3) has not previously had a prosecution under this section suspended pursuant to this subsection, it may order suspension of prosecution in accordance with the provisions of subsection (i) of section 29-33.
(P.A. 18-29, S. 1; P.A. 23-53, S. 19; P.A. 25-18, S. 16.)
History: P.A. 23-53 amended Subsec. (f) by changing reference to Sec. 29-33(h) to Sec. 29-33(i); P.A. 25-18 made a conforming change in Subsec. (d).
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Sec. 53-206h. Bump stocks or other rates of fire enhancement prohibition. Notice. (a) Not later than thirty days after May 31, 2018, the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection shall, within available appropriations, provide written notification of the provisions of section 53-206g by: (1) Posting the notification on the department's Internet web site, and (2) providing the notification electronically to federally licensed firearm dealers.
(b) Commencing thirty days after May 31, 2018, but prior to July 1, 2023, the commissioner shall include a written notification of the provisions of section 53-206g with: (1) (A) A permit to carry a pistol or revolver issued pursuant to subsection (c) of section 29-28, (B) an eligibility certificate for a pistol or revolver issued pursuant to section 29-36f, (C) a long gun eligibility certificate issued pursuant to section 29-37p, and (D) an ammunition certificate issued or renewed pursuant to section 29-38n or section 29-38o; and (2) a notice of expiration mailed to a holder of such permit or certificate pursuant to (A) subsection (f) of section 29-30, (B) subsection (e) of section 29-36h, or (C) subsection (e) of section 29-37r.
(P.A. 18-29, S. 2; P.A. 25-18, S. 17.)
History: P.A. 18-29 effective May 31, 2018; P.A. 25-18 made a conforming change in Subsec. (b).
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