O F F I C E O F L E G I S L A T I V E R E S E A R C H
P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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PA 23-130—sHB 6839
Public Safety and Security Committee
AN ACT CONCERNING TE MPORARY STATE PERMIT S TO CARRY A
PISTOL OR REVOLVER ISSUED BY TRIBAL POLICE DEPARTMENTS
SUMMARY: PA 22-102 authorized the chief executive officer (CEO) of any
municipality (i.e., town, city, consolidated town and city, borough, or consolidated
town and borough) without a police chief to perform various firearms permitting
and administrative functions or designate the resident state trooper or relevant state
police officer to do so. (Prior to PA 22-102, only a town’s first selectman or
borough’s warden could perform these functions.) This act defines a municipal
CEO for these purposes as the (1) first selectman; (2) chief administrative officer
appointed by the board of selectmen or mayor; (3) mayor; (4) borough warden; or
(5) appointed town, city, or borough manager (CGS § 7-193).
Under PA 22-102, the police chiefs of the state’s federally recognized Native
American tribes with a law enforcement unit (i.e., the Mohegan and Mashantucket
Pequot police chiefs) may issue temporary state handgun permits under the
statutory permit approval process to applicants who are bona fide permanent
residents of the tribal reservations. The act makes numerous conforming changes
throughout the firearm permitting statutes to extend the statutory permit approval
process to these police chiefs, including provisions on the following:
1. supplying permit application forms and notifying applicants about their
permit’s approval or denial within specified timeframes;
2. requiring applicants to submit to fingerprinting, positive identification
procedures, and state and national criminal history records checks;
3. denying permits if they have reason to believe that (a) the applicant has ever
been convicted of a felony or (b) any other condition exists for which state
or federal law prohibits issuing a handgun permit;
4. retaining a portion of the handgun permit fee and forwarding sufficient
funds to pay for the national criminal history check to the Department of
Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP) commissioner;
5. receiving notifications from the DESPP commissioner (a) about reasons
that would prohibit applicants from possessing a handgun or (b) that an
applicant is ineligible for a long gun; and
6. receiving copies of receipts for handgun and long gun sales and transfers.
The act also repeals a provision allowing the handgun permit issuing authority
to forgo taking an applicant’s fingerprints if (1) they determine that the applicant’s
fingerprints were already taken and (2) the applicant presents identification that
they determine is valid.
Lastly, the act makes technical changes.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2023