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OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 6684
AN ACT EXCLUDING CERTAIN TARGET SHOOTING PISTOLS
FROM PROVISIONS ON ASSAULT WEAPONS.
SUMMARY
This bill (1) revamps the process the Department of Emergency
Services and Public Protection (DESPP) commissioner uses to identify
semiautomatic pistols designed for target shooting events and make
them exempt from the state’s assault weapons ban and (2) broadens the
types of target shooting pistols eligible for the exemption to include
those designed and sanctioned for events other than the Olympic
Games.
Under the bill, the DESPP commissioner must (1) identify the exempt
pistols on the department’s website, rather than in regulations; (2)
review it at least annually; and (3) make any revisions he deems
necessary. The bill also (1) repeals the existing regulations on the
designated Olympic pistols (Conn. Agencies Regs. §§ 53-202b-1 to -5)
and (2) requires the secretary of the state to correspondingly update the
official online compilation of state regulations by January 1, 2024.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2023, except the provision requiring
the DESPP commissioner to identify the exempt pistols is effective July
1, 2023.
LIST OF EXEMPT TARGET SHOOTING PIST OLS
Current law allows the sale, possession, and transport of certain
semiautomatic pistols designated by the DESPP commissioner as
designed expressly for use in target shooting events at Olympic Games
sponsored by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It requires
the DESPP commissioner, in regulations, to designate the target
shooting pistols that may be sold, possessed, or transported for this 2023HB-06684-R000359-BA.DOCX
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purpose, as long as they are sanctioned by IOC and USA Shooting, or
any subsequent corresponding governing board for international
shooting competition in the United States.
The bill instead requires the commissioner, by October 1, 2023, to
identify the exempt pistols on the department’s website. It also broadens
the types of semiautomatic pistols eligible for the exemption to include
those designed for (1) target shooting and sanctioned by a United States
or international target shooting organization or (2) use in the Olympic
Games. Under the bill, this list must be used to identify the
semiautomatic target shooting pistols that may be sold, possessed, or
transported into the state under limited circumstances (e.g., to
participate in a qualifying collegiate, Olympic, or target pistol shooting
competition in Connecticut).
Under the bill, anyone purchasing a pistol on the DESPP list must (1)
sign a form, set by the commissioner and provided by the seller,
indicating that he or she will use the pistol primarily for target shooting
practice and events and (2) apply to register the weapon within 90 days
after the purchase. The same requirements apply under current law for
the semiautomatic pistols designated in regulations.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Public Safety and Security Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 18 Nay 7 (03/16/2023)