Connecticut HB 5043: AN ACT CONCERNING CONVERTIBLE PISTOLS, UNFINISHED FRAMES OR UNFINISHED LOWER RECEIVERS, VOLUNTARY RELINQUISHMENT OF FIREARMS AND AMMUNITION AND REFUNDABILITY OF PERMITS FOR SALE AT RETAIL OF FIREARMS AND FOR CARRYING OF PISTOLS AND REVOLVERS.

Bill Text

Substitute House Bill No. 5043 
 
Public Act No. 26-41 
 
 
AN  ACT  CONCERNING  CONVERTIBLE  PISTOLS,  UNFINISHED 
FRAMES   OR   UNFINISHED   LOWER   RECEIVERS,   VOLUNTARY 
RELINQUISHMENT   OF   FIREARMS   AND   AMMUNITION,   AND 
REFUNDABILITY   OF   PERMITS   FOR   SALE   AT RETAIL   OF 
FIREARMS AND FOR CARRYING OF PISTOLS AND REVOLVERS. 
Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  in  General 
Assembly convened: 
 
Section  1.  Subsection  (a)  of  section  53-202  of  the  general  statutes  is 
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 
1, 2026): 
(a)  As  used  in  this  section:  (1)  "Machine  gun" [shall  apply  to  and 
include] means  (A) a  weapon  of  any  description,  loaded  or  unloaded, 
[which] that shoots,  is  designed  to  shoot  or  can  be  readily  restored  to 
shoot   automatically   more   than   one   projectile,   without   manual 
reloading, by a single function of the trigger, including any convertible 
pistol that is equipped with a pistol converter, as defined in subsection 
(c)  of  section  53-206g,  as  amended  by  this  act, and [shall  also  include] 
(B) any  part  or  combination  of  parts  designed  for  use  in  converting  a 
weapon into a machine gun and any combination of parts from which a 
machine gun can be assembled if such parts are in the possession of or 
under the control of a person. (2) "Crime of violence" [shall apply to and 
include] means any  of  the  following-named  crimes  or  an  attempt  to 
commit  any  of  the  same:  Murder,  manslaughter,  kidnapping,  sexual 

Substitute House Bill No. 5043 
 
Public Act No. 26-41 2 of 19 
 
assault and sexual assault with a firearm, assault in the first or second 
degree,  robbery,  burglary,  larceny  and  riot  in  the  first  degree.  (3) 
"Projectile" means any size bullet that when affixed to any cartridge case 
may be propelled through the bore of a machine gun. (4) "Convertible 
pistol" means any semiautomatic pistol with a cruciform trigger bar that 
can be readily altered by hand or with a common household tool so that 
the pistol can be readily converted into a machine gun by the installation 
or attachment of a pistol converter, as defined in subsection (c) of section 
53-206g,  as  amended  by  this  act.  "Convertible  pistol"  does  not  include 
(A)  any  hammer-fired  semiautomatic  pistol,  or  (B)  any  semiautomatic 
pistol  with  a  cruciform  trigger  bar  that  has  a tab  or  other  piece  of 
material molded to the pistol's frame that shields the cruciform trigger 
bar from interference by a pistol converter, unless the tab or other piece 
of   material   can   be   readily   removed   from   the   pistol's   frame.   (5) 
"Cruciform  trigger  bar"  means  a  component  in  a  semiautomatic  pistol 
that  serves  as  a  linkage  between  the  trigger  and  firing  pin  and  has  its 
sear  incorporated  in  a  cross-shaped  surface.  (6)  "Common  household 
tool"  includes,  but  is  not  limited  to,  a  knife,  screwdriver,  wrench, 
hacksaw,  crowbar,  electric  drill,  rotary  tool,  hammer,  chisel,  file  or 
pliers. 
Sec. 2. Subsection (c) of section 53-206g of the 2026 supplement to the 
general  statutes  is  repealed  and  the  following  is  substituted  in  lieu 
thereof (Effective October 1, 2026): 
(c) For purposes of this section, (1) "firearm" means firearm as defined 
in   section   53a-3,   as   amended   by   this   act, [and] (2) "rate   of   fire 
enhancement" means (A) any device, component, part, combination of 
parts, attachment or accessory that: [(1)] (i) Uses energy from the recoil 
of  a  firearm  to  generate  a  reciprocating  action  that  causes  repeated 
function of the trigger, including, but not limited to, a bump stock; [(2)] 
(ii) repeatedly pulls or forcibly resets the trigger of a firearm through the 
use of a crank, lever or other part, including, but not limited to, a trigger 

Substitute House Bill No. 5043 
 
Public Act No. 26-41 3 of 19 
 
crank or forced reset trigger; or [(3)] (iii) causes a semiautomatic firearm 
to  fire  more  than  one  round  per  operation  of  the  trigger,  where  the 
trigger  pull  and  reset  constitute  a  single  operation  of  the  trigger, 
including,  but  not  limited  to,  a  binary  trigger  system or  a  pistol 
converter, or (B) any other device, part, combination of parts, kit, tool or 
accessory  that  is  not  necessary  for  the  function  of  the  pistol  and  that, 
when built into, installed in or attached to the pistol, increases the rate 
of fire above the rate at which a person can fire the firearm without the 
device, part, combination of parts, kit, tool or accessory, and (3) "pistol 
converter"  means  any  device  or  instrument  that,  when  installed  in  or 
attached to the rear of the slide of a semiautomatic pistol, interferes with 
the  trigger  mechanism,  thereby  enabling  the  pistol  to  discharge  a 
number o