April 3, 1998 98-R-0523
FROM: Veronica Rose, Principal Analyst
RE: Firearms and Minors
You asked if state law prohibits people under a certain age from possessing firearms.
State law contains no explicit prohibition against people under a certain age possessing handguns. But the statute prohibiting sales or transfers of handguns to persons under age 21 appears to be commonly construed to prohibit possession by people under this age. Under federal law, it is generally illegal for people under age 18 to possess handguns.
The law authorizing long gun sales and transfers does not include an age requirement. The only age requirement pertaining to long guns is one allowing people age 12 to 16 to obtain a Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) junior firearms hunting license, which allows them to hunt with firearms under supervision. People over age 16 can get a DEP license for unsupervised firearm hunting.
State law does not explicitly prohibit handgun possession based on age. But it bars transfers to people under age 21. The penalty for a violation is a class D felony, with a one-year mandatory minimum sentence. CGS § 29-34(b), which apparently is being construed to bar possession based on age, states:
No person shall sell, barter, hire, lend, give, deliver or otherwise transfer to any person under the age of twenty-one years any pistol or revolver, except that a pistol or revolver may be temporarily transferred to any person only for the use by such person in target shooting or on a firing or shooting range, provided such use is otherwise permitted by and is under the immediate supervision of a person eligible to possess a pistol or revolver (emphasis added).
While the State Police cited the above law as the pertinent one barring possession based on age, it indicated that this law must be read in conjunction with two other laws. The first law is the one setting the criteria for obtaining a handgun eligibility certificate. With minor exceptions, since October 1, 1995, anyone obtaining a handgun must have either an eligibility certificate or a permit. The law prohibits issuing a certificate to anyone under age 21 (CGS § 29-36f).
Under the second law, it is illegal (with minor exceptions) to carry a handgun without a permit. Although this law does not include an age requirement for permits, in practice, issuing authorities stopped issuing permits to people under age 21 when the law setting the 21-age requirement for transfers became effective.
FEDERAL LAW AND HANDGUN POSSESSION
Federal law generally prohibits people under age 18 from possessing handguns. They may only receive and possess handguns with the written permission of a parent or guardian for limited purposes (e.g., employment, ranching, farming, target practice, or hunting). Also, juvenile members of the U.S. armed forces or the National Guard can possess them on duty (18 USC. 922x).
LONG GUNS
State law has no age requirement for obtaining or possessing long guns. Federal law prohibits FFLs from selling or transferring long guns to people under age 18. But it does not address sales or transfers by non-dealers or possession by minors (18 U.S.C. 922(b)(1); 27 CFR 178.99(b)(1)). Under state law, minors age 12 to 16 can get a junior firearms hunting license for firearm hunting under the supervision of a person age 18 or over holding a firearms hunting license. The law also allows anyone over age 16 to obtain a hunting license for unsupervised firearm hunting (CGS Secs. 26-27(a), 26-27a, and 26-38).
VR:mw