AN ACT CONCERNING THE REFUND OF CERTAIN FIREARM PERMIT FEES.

House of Representatives
HB5454 / File No. 272 1

General Assembly File No. 272
February Session, 2026 House Bill No. 5454

House of Representatives, March 31, 2026

The Committee on Public Safety and Security reported through
REP. BOYD of the 50th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on
the part of the House, that the bill ought to pass.

AN ACT CONCERNING THE REFUND OF CERTAIN FIREARM
PERMIT FEES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. Subsections (a) to (e), inclusive, of section 29-30 of the 2026 1
supplement to the general statutes are repealed and the following is 2
substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2026): 3
(a) The fee for each permit originally issued under the provisions of 4
subsection (b) of section 29 -28 for the sale at retail of firearms shall be 5
two hundred dollars and for each renewal of such permit two hundred 6
dollars. The fee for each state permit originally issued under the 7
provisions of subsection (c) of section 29 -28, for the carrying of pistols 8
and revolvers shall be one hundred forty dollars plus sufficient funds as 9
required to be transmitted to the Federal Bureau of Investigation to 10
cover the cost of a national criminal history records check. The local 11
permitting authority, as defined in section 29-28, or the chief of police of 12
a law enforcement unit of any federally recognized Native American 13
tribe within the borders of the state, as referenced in subsection (c) of 14
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section 29 -28, shall forward sufficient funds for the national criminal 15
history records check to the commissioner no later than five business 16
days after receipt by the local permitting authority, or such chief of 17
police of a law enforcement unit of any federally recognized Native 18
American tribe, of the application for the temporary state permit. 19
[Seventy] Except as provided in subsection (e) of this section, seventy 20
dollars shall be retained by the local permitting authority, or such chief 21
of police of a law enforcement unit of any federally recognized Native 22
American tribe. Upon approval by the local permitting authority, or 23
such chief of police of a law enforcement unit of any federally 24
recognized Native American tribe, of the application for a temporary 25
state permit, seventy dollars shall be sent to the commissioner. The fee 26
to renew each state permit originally issued under the provisions of 27
subsection (c) of section 29-28 shall be seventy dollars. Upon deposit of 28
such fees in the General Fund, ten dollars of each fee shall be credited 29
within thirty days to the appropriation for the Department of 30
Emergency Services and Public Protection to a separate nonlapsing 31
account for the purposes of the issuance of permits under subsections 32
(b) and (c) of section 29-28. 33
(b) A local permit originally issued before October 1, 2001, whether 34
for the sale at retail of pistols and revolvers or for the carrying of pistols 35
and revolvers, shall expire five years after the date it becomes effective 36
and each renewal of such permit shall expire five years after the 37
expiration date of the permit being renewed. On and after October 1, 38
2001, no local permit for the carrying of pistols and revolvers shall be 39
renewed. 40
(c) A state permit originally issued under the provisions of section 29-41
28 for the carrying of pistols and revolvers shall expire five years after 42
the date such permit becomes effective and each renewal of such permit 43
shall expire five years after the expiration date of the state permit being 44
renewed and such renewal shall not be contingent on the renewal or 45
issuance of a local permit. A temporary state permit issued for the 46
carrying of pistols and revolvers shall expire sixty days after the date it 47
becomes effective, and may not be renewed. 48
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(d) The renewal fee required pursuant to subsection (a) of this section 49
shall apply for each renewal which is requested not earlier than thirty -50
one days before, and not later than thirty -one days after, the expiration 51
date of the state permit being renewed. 52
(e) No fee or portion of any fee paid under the provisions of this 53
section for issuance or renewal of a state permit shall be refundable 54
except if (1) such permit for which the fee or portion was paid was not 55
issued or renewed, or (2) the local permitting authority fails to discharge 56
any obligation applicable to such local permitting authority pursuant to 57
subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of section 29-28a or subsection (b) or (c) 58
of section 29-29 within the applicable time limits established under said 59
subdivision or subsection, in which case the local permitting authority 60
shall refund seventy dollars to the applicant . The portion of the fee 61
expended on the national criminal history records check for any such 62
permit that was not issued or renewed shall not be refunded. 63
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:

Section 1 October 1, 2026 29-30(a) to (e)

PS Joint Favorable

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The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of
the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not
represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general,
fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional
knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final
products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note

State Impact: None
Municipal Impact:
Municipalities Effect FY 27 $ FY 28 $
Municipal Police Departments;
Various Municipalities
Potential
Revenue
Loss
Minimal Minimal

Explanation
The bill results in potential minimal revenue loss to local permitting
authorities to the extent they fail to complete their duties within the
existing statutorily established timeframes and must issue refunds.
Local permitting authorities are either a chi ef of police or the chief
executive officer of the town.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to any refunds issued.

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OLR Bill Analysis
HB 5454

AN ACT CONCERNING THE REFUND OF CERTAIN FIREARM
PERMIT FEES.

SUMMARY
This bill requires local handgun permitting authorities to partially
refund the applicant’s fees if the authorities do not complete their duties
(such as by failing to act on an application) within statutorily established
timeframes.
Under Connecticut law, handgun permits are issued under a two -
part process, requiring approval from both the local permitting
authority and the Department of Emergency Services and Public
Protection (DESPP). The local official investigates an applicant,
including through a background check, and issues a temporary state
permit; the State Police conduct state and national criminal history
record checks on the applicant and issue a five-year state permit.
By law, as part of the handgun permitting process, applicants must
pay a $140 fee and the local permitting authority retaining $70. The bill
instead requires the local authority to refund that $70 to the applicant if
it does not complete its duties within certain timeframes. Unchanged by
the bill, applicants must also pay to cover the cost of a n FBI national
criminal history records check.
As under existing law, once a temporary state permit is approved, the
local permitting authority forwards the other $70 to the DESPP
commissioner.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2026.
LOCAL PERMITTING AUTHORITY DUTIES
By law, the local permitting authority must inform the applicant
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whether the permit has been approved or denied within eight weeks of
a submitted application. The local permitting authority must also take
the applicant’s fingerprints or use any other method of positive
identification and forward the fingerprints and positive identifying
information to the State Police Bureau of Identification within five
business days.
Existing law allows t he local permitting authority to issue a
temporary state permit before a national criminal history check has been
received. Once the national criminal history check has been received by
the local permitting authority, the local authority has one week to decide
on the permit and notify the applicant . If the results have not been
received within eight weeks, the permitting authority must inform the
applicant of the delay in writing.
A “local permitting authority” is the chief of police or, where there is
no police chief, the municipality’s chief executive officer (CEO) (or the
resident state trooper or relevant state police officer designated by the
municipality’s CEO).
BACKGROUND
COMMITTEE ACTION
Public Safety and Security Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 29 Nay 0 (03/17/2026)