Connecticut: Attention Gun Owners and Sportsmen - Next Round of Anti-Gun Law Provisions Take Effect on January 1

The next round of provisions from Senate Bill 1160 (now Public Act 13-3), passed by the Connecticut General Assembly and signed into law by Governor Dan Malloy (D), take effect on Wednesday, January 1, 2014.

EFFECTIVE ON JANUARY 1, 2014:

• All lawfully possessed magazines that can hold more than ten rounds must be registered with the Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP) by January 1, 2014.
• Any non-resident who moves into Connecticut after January 1, 2014, will have ninety days to permanently disable, sell to a gun dealer or take out of state, any magazine that can hold more than ten rounds.
• Anyone who lawfully possessed a magazine able to hold more than ten rounds prior to April 4, 2013, but did not register it by January 1, 2014, may be subject to a fine of not more than $90 for the first offense and will face a Class D felony charge on subsequent offenses.
• Any semi-automatic centerfire rifle that can accept a detachable magazine and has specific listed features, certain semi-automatic pistols and certain semi-automatic shotguns are immediately classified as “assault weapons” and must be registered with the DESPP by January 1, 2014.
• Any non-resident who moves into Connecticut after January 1, 2014, will have ninety days to permanently disable, sell to a gun dealer or take out of state, any firearm that is now mislabeled and now classified as an “assault weapon.”  For more details on this new law and to see if your firearm will need to be registered by January 1, 2014, please click here.
• Failure to register these newly illegal firearms, for first time offenders, is a Class A misdemeanor if the person can prove they owned the gun before April 4, 2013, and have otherwise complied with the law. Otherwise, it is a Class D felony with a mandatory minimum one-year prison sentence.

These requirements are only some of the many onerous and deeply flawed provisions that penalize responsible gun owners and sportsmen in Connecticut with the intention of turning law-abiding citizens into criminals.  Unfortunately, it seems as though the misguided Connecticut legislature won’t stop until they have completely obliterated your rights.   As we’ve seen in other states, such as in neighboring New York, these controversial registration provisions begin the slide down a slippery slope toward eventual confiscation.  These are legitimate worries, and residents of the Constitution State should be wary.  History shows that in instances where government officials promise no harm will come through their flawed registration schemes, the end result winds up being quite different.  Gun registration enables gun confiscation, and criminals never register their firearms.

Your NRA is working to reverse this dangerous law which has no effect on criminal access or misuse of firearms, but we need your help!  To get involved and volunteer your efforts against these misguided efforts, please click here.