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Question about legality of a handgun brought in out of state.
- Thread starter Mikey7789
- Start date
dcmdon
NES Member
Just to add that there are some circumstances where you can bring a handgun out of your house without a permit.
The gist of the statute linked to below is that its ok to
1) go to formal training.
2) take part in competitions.
3) bring to and from a dealer for repairs
4) to a dealer for sale.
dcmdon
NES Member
Look at the sticky I wrote in 2010 titled
Connecticut - Land of the Free??!!?? A real alternative to NH??
Prior to the passage of PA13-3 we had nothing but a Federal style AWB with the ability to use pre-ban guns. No mag limitations. De-facto shall issue carry licensing.
It was a bit of an inconvenience, but nothing that you couldn't LAWFULLY circumvent with the judicious application of money.
dcmdon
NES Member
Better than Mass:
1) no carry license restrictions
2) de-facto shall issue
3) FLRB - google it
4) no approved handguns.
5) no license necessary to possess any firearms including machine guns
6) no license necessary to use long guns in any way
7) Silencers
8) FFL out of your home. which gets you around most restrictions
9) Open carry
10) No transport restrictions on any firearms other than AWs.
11) Safe storage laws are nearly impossible to prosecute unless a kid gets hurt or killed. (In which case you deserve to have trouble)
Worse than MA
1) no grandfathering for standard capacity mags
2) AWB is more strict - essentially zero features vs 1 feature in MA. I can get more into this in detail if necessary. Google "CT other".
1) no carry license restrictions
2) de-facto shall issue
3) FLRB - google it
4) no approved handguns.
5) no license necessary to possess any firearms including machine guns
6) no license necessary to use long guns in any way
7) Silencers
8) FFL out of your home. which gets you around most restrictions
9) Open carry
10) No transport restrictions on any firearms other than AWs.
11) Safe storage laws are nearly impossible to prosecute unless a kid gets hurt or killed. (In which case you deserve to have trouble)
Worse than MA
1) no grandfathering for standard capacity mags
2) AWB is more strict - essentially zero features vs 1 feature in MA. I can get more into this in detail if necessary. Google "CT other".
Last edited:
allen-1
NES Member
1) no grandfathering for standard capacity mags
Clarification only, because if you didn't do it, you can't now -
After Sandy Hook, there were laws passed requiring you to declare your "assault weapons" and your "high capacity" magazines along with laws prohibiting the sale of same.
If you declared these items, you could legally keep them. If you didn't declare them, (and a lot of people didn't), you're now breaking CT law by possession.
dcmdon
NES Member
Also, don't forget about the FFL route. You can make some money on the side and if you have an outbuilding, you can set that up as the space for your FFL. That means that the ATF doesn't get access to your actual home in a compliance inspection.
An 07 FFL costs $50/yr and gets you around ALL of CT firearms restrictions except for transport and carry restrictions on assault weapons.
When I was living in CT, I had a home based FFL. It was in my basement. When I had a compliance inspection, they came in through the Bilco door and stayed in the basement. They were never in the actual house. Although in all cases, I invited them upstairs into the Kitchen for coffee after the inspection was done.
ATF inspectors are generally decent people just trying to help you succeed.
An 07 FFL costs $50/yr and gets you around ALL of CT firearms restrictions except for transport and carry restrictions on assault weapons.
When I was living in CT, I had a home based FFL. It was in my basement. When I had a compliance inspection, they came in through the Bilco door and stayed in the basement. They were never in the actual house. Although in all cases, I invited them upstairs into the Kitchen for coffee after the inspection was done.
ATF inspectors are generally decent people just trying to help you succeed.
I thought you have to FA10 guns when you moved into MA? is that not the case?
If not required then I'd definitely not do it.
Purely out of curiosity, what was to stop folks from declaring one or two mags, while conveniently forgetting about the other ten or twelve?
Nope. Not the case.
allen-1
NES Member
I don't know about MA; definitely NOT the case for CT.
allen-1
NES Member
Absolutely nothing. Problem is when you have a casual traffic stop, or a douche at the range that prompts a closer look. Then if you haven't declared the mags, you're now in possession of <gasp> high capacity mags.
And the laws are just retarded. I declared some of mine so that I could avoid the Barney load in competition. But - if I have a "standard capacity" mag in my gun outside of an event, and it has more than 10 rounds in it - yup - I'm breaking the law in CT.
I keep (5) loaded magazines in my truck for my G17/G34, and half a dozen PMAGs for my AR. I swap them out for cripples when I go north. 'cause "if it saves one child" blah, blah, blah, EABOD.
aeromarine
NES Member
Thank you Allen-1 for the very detailed and thoughtful response you provided to Mikey7789. He asked a very straightforward question and he deserved an informed answer. If a person can't provide one, they should just hold their posts until someone who can provides a helpful response.
I don't know where the moderators are in these situations and why they let this nonsense go on. I've been a member here for a long and have recruited many others to join up as green members. However, the wise ass comments we witnessed above now seem to be the norm and it's down right embarrassing. This is especially so when it involves a recently joined member. So, for goodness sake, if you can provide an accurate and responsive answer to an honest question, well just shut the bleep up and screw around on some other forum if uou're so eager to play with yourself!
Mikey 7789: About the Connecticut Non Resident license....that was a good suggestion and I highly recommended it. I'm pretty sure it can still all be done by mail as long as you have a valid Texas CHL. It would be cheap insurance and, in any event, it would allow you to excercise your rights as soon as you hit the ground in the Nutmeg State. And a caution if you're driving up from Texas to Connecticut... be aware of the potential perils when passing through Maryland, New Jersey and New York. They generally don't honor the provisions of FOPA up front but, rather, only as an affirmative defense in court after you've be arrested and charged. So, don't stop or do anything to get stopped in those states. With Texas plates or your car or truck some trooper might pull you over and think he can "smell a gun" then decide to toss your car. Yes, I know that kind of fishing is not lawful but it happens.
Good luck on your move and welcome to NES!
MODERATORS TAKE NOTE!
no idea how I made that up then lol....good to know though.
dcmdon
NES Member
Nothing.
But that served no purpose. Mags aren't serialized, so you were just declaring a quantity.
The REAL question is what was to stop folks from declaring FIFTY mags when they only had one or two. So they could buy more later.
dcmdon
NES Member
You will note this is a CONNECTICUT law forum.
dcmdon
NES Member
I agree with you 1000%. The useless comments are really annoying and just create crap that people have to wade through to get to the info.
Re FOPA and the states you mentioned, the issues you described have only occurred with people FLYING into NY specifically Port Authority airports. Newark, LaGuardia, and JFK.
There have been NO known instances of people being arrested and prosecuted in any of those states when traveling in compliance with the safe passage portion of FOPA.
A couple of years ago after spending hours trying to find a single case, I offered a reward of $100 to anyone who could find an example of anyone arrested and prosecuted while driving through any of those places in compliance with FOPA.
I still have that $100.
It IS perfectly safe to drive through Maryland, NY, and NJ in compliance with FOPA. Well, maybe not PERFECTLY safe. But you have more chance of dying in a car wreck on that trip than you do of having a problem with the police.
yup I'm well aware of that.
allen-1
NES Member
Lack of foresight. I have half a dozen or so G17/G34 mags and the same of PMAG 30's in CT. If knew then what I knew now, I'd have declared 50 of each.
Hindsight is always 20/20 - and usually sober.
dcmdon
NES Member
I declared so much stuff (stuff that I did have. I have too much to lose to lie) it would make your head spin.
The law says that anything that could convert a compliant rifle into an AW is an AW. So by that logic a pistol grip is an AW. So I registered the dozen or so old A2 pistol grips I had kicking around.
Idiots wanted to "resist" when the state already had DPS-3s on the firearms they purchased. Its a pointless exercise in stupidity.
So I advocated going the other way. Drown them in paper. Pistol grips, threaded barrels, flash hiders. All are AWs per the actual language of the statute.
It was intended to create the framework for a constructive possession infraction. But it says what it says.
[(2)] (ii) A part or combination of parts designed or intended to convert a firearm into an assault weapon, as defined in subparagraph (A)(i) of this subdivision,
The law says that anything that could convert a compliant rifle into an AW is an AW. So by that logic a pistol grip is an AW. So I registered the dozen or so old A2 pistol grips I had kicking around.
Idiots wanted to "resist" when the state already had DPS-3s on the firearms they purchased. Its a pointless exercise in stupidity.
So I advocated going the other way. Drown them in paper. Pistol grips, threaded barrels, flash hiders. All are AWs per the actual language of the statute.
It was intended to create the framework for a constructive possession infraction. But it says what it says.
[(2)] (ii) A part or combination of parts designed or intended to convert a firearm into an assault weapon, as defined in subparagraph (A)(i) of this subdivision,
Interesting.
If you sell any of those A2 pistol grips out of state, does CT expect you to declare that too? If not, the paperwork nightmare must be impressive indeed. And using those declarations for any kind of subsequent prosecution would be a meaningless joke.
If you sell any of those A2 pistol grips out of state, does CT expect you to declare that too? If not, the paperwork nightmare must be impressive indeed. And using those declarations for any kind of subsequent prosecution would be a meaningless joke.
dcmdon
NES Member
You don't have to tell CT when you sell an AW out of state. FYI. But it is an interesting thought exercise.
I had a discussion with Vincent Imbibbo of the DESPP about if registering something makes it an AW or if its an AW.
My point with him was that an items characteristics make it an AW. This also came up because I had a G19 that I regularly carried and occasionally used it with a suppressor.
I registered it as an AW so I could use it with a threaded bbl. But you can't carry an AW. So I wanted to be able to carry it without a threaded barrel. We agreed that when it was fitted with a threaded bbl it was subject to all the restrictions on carry and transport of an AW, But when it didn't have a threaded bbl in it, it was not an AW. Even though it was registered by serial number.
Oh. And I of course registered the threaded bbl as an AW. Ha.
I had a discussion with Vincent Imbibbo of the DESPP about if registering something makes it an AW or if its an AW.
My point with him was that an items characteristics make it an AW. This also came up because I had a G19 that I regularly carried and occasionally used it with a suppressor.
I registered it as an AW so I could use it with a threaded bbl. But you can't carry an AW. So I wanted to be able to carry it without a threaded barrel. We agreed that when it was fitted with a threaded bbl it was subject to all the restrictions on carry and transport of an AW, But when it didn't have a threaded bbl in it, it was not an AW. Even though it was registered by serial number.
Oh. And I of course registered the threaded bbl as an AW. Ha.
aeromarine
NES Member
dcmdon
NES Member
A friend of mine once shot a 3 gun match at West Point. He was a nervous wreck about bringing a bunch of guns and standard capacity mags to NY for the competition. He was told that the guns were legal on post at West Point, so he was covered by FOPA.
It's an interesting perspective. I'm not sure how it would work out. But interesting none the less.
It's an interesting perspective. I'm not sure how it would work out. But interesting none the less.