AN ACT REQUIRING CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR ALL PRIVATE FIREARM SALES.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 29-37a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2013):

(a) No person, firm or corporation may [deliver, at retail,] sell, deliver or otherwise transfer any firearm, as defined in section 53a-3, other than a pistol or revolver, to any person unless such person makes application on a form prescribed and furnished by the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection, which shall be attached by the [vendor] transferor to the federal sale or transfer document and filed and retained by the [vendor] transferor for at least twenty years or, if such transferor is a federally licensed firearms dealer, until such [vendor] transferor goes out of business. Such application shall be available for inspection during normal business hours by law enforcement officials.

(b) No sale, [or] delivery or other transfer of any firearm shall be made until the expiration of two weeks from the date of the application, and until the person, firm or corporation making such sale, delivery or transfer has [insured] ensured that such application has been completed properly and has obtained an authorization number from the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection for such sale, delivery or transfer. The Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection shall make every effort, including performing the national instant criminal background check, to determine if the applicant is eligible to receive such firearm. If it is determined that the applicant is ineligible to receive such firearm, the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection shall immediately notify the person, firm or corporation to whom such application was made and no such firearm shall be sold, [or] delivered or otherwise transferred to such applicant by such person, firm or corporation. When any firearm is delivered in connection with [the] any sale or purchase, such firearm shall be enclosed in a package, the paper or wrapping of which shall be securely fastened, and no such firearm when delivered on any sale or purchase shall be loaded or contain any gunpowder or other explosive or any bullet, ball or shell.

[(b)] (c) Upon the sale, delivery or other transfer of the firearm, the [purchaser] transferee shall sign in triplicate a receipt for such firearm, which shall contain the name, [and] address and date and place of birth of such [purchaser] transferee, the date of such sale, delivery or transfer and the caliber, make, model and manufacturer's number and a general description thereof. Not later than twenty-four hours after such sale, delivery or transfer, the [vendor] transferor shall send by first class mail or electronically transfer one receipt to the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection and one receipt to the chief of police or, where there is no chief of police, the warden of the borough or the first selectman, of the town in which the [purchaser] transferee resides, and shall retain one receipt, together with the original application, for at least five years.

(d) The waiting period specified in subsection [(a)] (b) of this section during which a sale, delivery or other transfer may not be made [and the provisions of this subsection] shall not apply to any federal marshal, parole officer or peace officer, or to the [delivery at retail] sale, delivery or other transfer of (1) any firearm to a holder of a valid state permit to carry a pistol or revolver issued under the provisions of section 29-28 or a valid eligibility certificate issued under the provisions of section 29-36f, (2) any firearm to an active member of the armed forces of the United States or of any reserve component thereof, (3) any firearm to a holder of a valid hunting license issued pursuant to chapter 490, or (4) antique firearms. For the purposes of this [section] subsection, "antique firearm" means any firearm which was manufactured in or before 1898 and any replica of such firearm, provided such replica is not designed or redesigned for using rimfire or conventional centerfire fixed ammunition except rimfire or conventional centerfire fixed ammunition which is no longer manufactured in the United States and not readily available in the ordinary channel of commercial trade.

(e) The provisions of this section shall not apply to the sale, delivery or other transfer of a firearm between (1) an individual and such individual's parent, spouse, child, sibling, grandparent or grandchild, (2) a federally-licensed firearm manufacturer and a federally-licensed firearm dealer, (3) a federally-licensed firearm importer and a federally-licensed firearm dealer, or (4) federally-licensed firearm dealers.

Sec. 2. Subsection (a) of section 53-202g of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2013):

(a) Any person who lawfully possesses an assault weapon under sections [29-37j and] 53-202a to 53-202k, inclusive, [and subsection (h) of section 53a-46a] or a firearm, as defined in section 53a-3, that is lost or stolen from such person shall report the loss or theft to the organized local police department for the town in which the loss or theft occurred or, if such town does not have an organized local police department, to the state police troop having jurisdiction for such town within seventy-two hours of when such person discovered or should have discovered the loss or theft. Such department or troop shall forthwith forward a copy of such report to the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to the loss or theft of an antique firearm as defined in subsection [(b)] (d) of section 29-37a, as amended by this act.

Sec. 3. Subsection (c) of section 53-202aa of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2013):

(c) For the purposes of this section, "firearm" means "firearm" as defined in section 53a-3, but does not include a rifle or shotgun or an antique firearm as defined in subsection [(b)] (d) of section 29-37a, as amended by this act.

Statement of Purpose:

To require criminal background checks of all purchasers of firearms at private gun sales.

[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.]

S.B. 506