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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 7042
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 5131
Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY
Introduced by:
(JUD)
AN ACT CONCERNING IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FIREARM
INDUSTRY RESPONSIBILITY ACT.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2025, and applicable to any civil 1
action filed on or after said date) As used in this section and sections 2 and 2
3 of this act: 3
(1) "Firearm industry member" means a person, firm, corporation, 4
company, partnership, society, joint stock company, trade association, 5
or any other entity or association engaged in the manufacture, 6
distribution, importation, marketing, wholesale or retail sale of firearm 7
industry products. 8
(2) "Firearm industry product" means any of the following which are 9
or were (A) sold, made or distributed in this state; (B) intended to be 10
sold or distributed in this state; or (C) possessed in this state and it was 11
reasonably foreseeable that such product would be possessed in this 12
state: 13
(i) Ammunition or a magazine as those terms are defined in section 14
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29-38m of the general statutes; 15
(ii) A firearm as defined in section 53a-3 of the general statutes; 16
(iii) An unfinished frame or lower receiver, as defined in section 53-17
206j of the general statutes; 18
(iv) A firearm component; or 19
(v) A firearm accessory. 20
(3) "Firearm trafficker" means an individual who engages in, 21
conspires to engage in, or attempts to engage in conduct that constitutes 22
firearms trafficking as described in section 53-202aa of the general 23
statutes or trafficking in firearms as described in 18 USC 933. 24
(4) "Reasonable controls" means procedures, acts and practices that 25
are designed, implemented and enforced to do all of the following: 26
(A) Prevent the sale or distribution of a firearm industry product to a 27
straw purchaser, a firearm trafficker, a person prohibited from 28
possessing a firearm under state or federal law, or a person about whom 29
there is reasonable cause to believe such person is at substantial risk of 30
using a firearm industry product to harm themself or another or of 31
possessing or using a firearm industry product unlawfully. 32
(B) Ensure that a firearm industry member complies with section 29-33
28b of the general statutes. 34
(C) Prevent the sale or distribution of a firearm industry product 35
designed, sold, advertised, marketed or promoted in a manner that 36
foreseeably promotes conversion of a legal firearm industry product 37
into an illegal firearm industry product. 38
(D) Ensure that the firearm industry member complies with the 39
provisions of section 2 of this act and all other applicable provisions of 40
state and federal law, and does not otherwise advertise, market or 41
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promote the unlawful manufacture, sale, possession, marketing or use 42
of a firearm industry product. 43
(5) "Straw purchaser" means an individual who engages in or 44
attempts to engage in conduct that violates subsection (a) of section 29-45
34 of the general statutes, section 29-37e of the general statutes or 18 USC 46
932. 47
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2025, and applicable to any civil action 48
filed on or after said date) (a) A firearm industry member shall establish, 49
implement and enforce reasonable controls. 50
(b) No firearm industry member shall provide a firearm industry 51
product to another firearm industry member when there is reasonable 52
cause to believe that such other firearm industry member is engaged in 53
conduct that is in violation of this section. 54
(c) No firearm industry member shall advertise, market or promote 55
firearm industry products in this state in a manner that promotes 56
unlawful sales, unlawful use or use that promotes risk to public safety. 57
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2025, and applicable to any civil action 58
filed on or after said date) (a) An act or omission by a firearm industry 59
member that fails to comply with any provision of section 2 of this act 60
constitutes a violation of said section and shall be actionable under this 61
section. 62
(b) A civil action in a court of competent jurisdiction to enforce this 63
section or remedy harm caused by a violation of section 2 of this act may 64
be brought by: 65
(1) A person who has suffered harm in this state because of a firearm 66
industry member's violation of section 2 of this act; 67
(2) The corporation counsel or other chief legal officer of a 68
municipality in the name of the municipality; or 69
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(3) The Attorney General in the name of the state. 70
(c) Any person bringing an action pursuant to subdivisions (1) or (2) 71
of subsection (b) of this section shall provide notice of such action to the 72
Attorney General not later than thirty days after the date of filing such 73
action. 74
(d) Where more than one plaintiff brings an action arising from the 75
same conduct, transaction or occurrence, the court may, upon the 76
motion of any party or upon its own motion order that the actions be 77
consolidated and any recovery shall be allocated among the plaintiffs in 78
proportion to their demonstrated damages. 79
(e) In an action alleging that a firearm industry member failed to 80
establish, implement and enforce reasonable controls in violation of 81
section 2 of this act, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the 82
firearm industry member failed to implement reasonable controls if: 83
(1) The firearm industry member's act or omission created or 84
increased a reasonably foreseeable risk of the harm alleged occurring; 85
and 86
(2) The firearm industry member could have established, 87
implemented and enforced reasonable controls to prevent or lower the 88
risk of the harm alleged occurring but failed to do so. 89
(f) If a court determines that a firearm industry member has violated 90
any provision of section 2 of this act, the court may award any or all of 91
the following: 92
(1) Injunctive relief sufficient to prevent the firearm industry member 93
and any other defendant from further violating the law. 94
(2) Compensatory damages. 95
(3) Punitive damages. 96
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(4) Restitution. 97
(5) Any other appropriate relief necessary to enforce the provisions 98
of chapter 529 of the general statutes and remedy the harm caused by 99
the conduct. 100
(g) In addition to the relief permitted under subsection (f) of this 101
section, if a court determines that a firearm industry member has 102
violated any provision of section 2 of this act: 103
(1) The court shall award costs and attorney's fees to a prevailing 104
plaintiff; 105
(2) A prevailing plaintiff may recover a civil penalty of not more than 106
ten thousand dollars for each violation; and 107
(3) The court may suspend or revoke any permits issued to the 108
firearm industry member under section 29-28 of the general statutes. 109
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2025, and
applicable to any civil
action filed on or after said
date
New section
Sec. 2 October 1, 2025, and
applicable to any civil
action filed on or after said
date
New section
Sec. 3 October 1, 2025, and
applicable to any civil
action filed on or after said
date
New section
Statement of Purpose:
To permit the filing of a civil action against a firearm industry member
who fails to exercise reasonable control over firearm industry products.
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[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]