(a) Any person who is twenty-one years of age or older may apply to the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection for an eligibility certificate for a pistol or revolver.

(b) The Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection shall issue an eligibility certificate unless said commissioner finds that the applicant: (1) Has failed to successfully complete a course approved by the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection in the safety and use of pistols and revolvers including, but not limited to, a safety or training course in the use of pistols and revolvers available to the public offered by a law enforcement agency, a private or public educational institution or a firearms training school, utilizing instructors certified by the National Rifle Association or the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and a safety or training course in the use of pistols or revolvers conducted by an instructor certified by the state or the National Rifle Association; (2) has been convicted of a felony or of a violation of section 21a-279 or section 53a-58, 53a-61, 53a-61a, 53a-62, 53a-63, 53a-96, 53a-175, 53a-176, 53a-178 or 53a-181d; (3) has been convicted as delinquent for the commission of a serious juvenile offense, as defined in section 46b-120; (4) has been discharged from custody within the preceding twenty years after having been found not guilty of a crime by reason of mental disease or defect pursuant to section 53a-13; (5) (A) has been confined in a hospital for persons with psychiatric disabilities, as defined in section 17a-495, within the preceding sixty months by order of a probate court; or (B) has been voluntarily admitted on or after October 1, 2013, to a hospital for persons with psychiatric disabilities, as defined in section 17a-495, within the preceding six months for care and treatment of a psychiatric disability and not solely for being an alcohol-dependent person or a drug-dependent person as those terms are defined in section 17a-680; (6) is subject to a restraining or protective order issued by a court in a case involving the use, attempted use or threatened use of physical force against another person, including an ex parte order issued pursuant to section 46b-15 or section 46b-16a; (7) is subject to a firearms seizure order issued pursuant to subsection (d) of section 29-38c after notice and hearing; (8) is prohibited from shipping, transporting, possessing or receiving a firearm pursuant to 18 USC 922(g)(4); or (9) is an alien illegally or unlawfully in the United States.

(July Sp. Sess. P.A. 94-1, S. 7; P.A. 98-129, S. 14; P.A. 99-212, S. 20; P.A. 05-283, S. 5; P.A. 11-51, S. 134; 11-80, S. 1; P.A. 13-3, S. 58; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 15-2, S. 4; P.A. 16-34, S. 9.)

History: P.A. 98-129 added new Subsec. (b)(3) prohibiting the issuance of an eligibility certificate to an applicant who has been convicted as delinquent for the commission of a serious juvenile offense, renumbering the remaining Subdivs. accordingly, and replacing in Subdiv. (5) “hospital for mental illness” with “hospital for persons with psychiatric disabilities”; P.A. 99-212 added new Subsec. (b)(7) prohibiting the issuance of an eligibility certificate to an applicant who is subject to a firearms seizure order issued pursuant to Sec. 29-38c(d) after notice and hearing, renumbering remaining Subdiv. accordingly, and made provisions gender neutral; P.A. 05-283 added new Subsec. (b)(8) prohibiting the issuance of an eligibility certificate to an applicant who is prohibited from shipping, transporting, possessing or receiving a firearm pursuant to 18 USC 922 (g)(4), and redesignated existing Subdiv. (8) as Subdiv. (9); pursuant to P.A. 11-51, “Commissioner of Public Safety” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection”, effective July 1, 2011; pursuant to P.A. 11-80, “Department of Environmental Protection” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “Department of Energy and Environmental Protection” in Subsec. (b), effective July 1, 2011; P.A. 13-3 amended Subsec. (b)(5) to designate existing provisions as Subpara. (A) and amend same by replacing “twelve months” with “sixty months” re hospital confinement by probate court order, and to add Subpara. (B) re voluntary admission; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 15-2 amended Subsec. (b)(2) to replace reference to Sec. 21a-279(c) with reference to Sec. 21a-279; P.A. 16-34 amended Subsec. (b) by making a technical change in Subdiv. (5)(B) and adding “, including an ex parte order issued pursuant to section 46b-15 or section 46b-16a” in Subdiv. (6).