Handgun legal age to posess in CT?

I bought a handgun for my son to use at the range. He is turning 18 later this week. I am not familiar with the CT laws beyond purchasing, I know an 18-year old can not purchase a handgun. Can an 18-year old own a handgun or does it just stay in my name until he is 21?

I dont think he can technically own it until he's 21.

Thank you NavyLT. Another reason CT sucks.

One thing not covered in the statute is manufacture/building of a handgun. Apparently, a person of any age could make a handgun and possess it legally. And with access to a machine shop, I understand it's not hard to do, and you can buy most of the parts quite legally as non-firearms, including the partially finished frame.

Very interesting, and typical of the quality of CT law. Wouldn't it be easier to prohibit the possession, too, if that's the goal of the law? Thankfully we still have some rights here in CT because our lawmakers can't write laws well enough to take them away totally!

While a particular LEO in CT might apply the law that way, Navy LT, it doesn't seem to me that someone 18-20, legally in possession of a handgun, would have it forfeited. If that person made the handgun, or transferred it in from out of state, there would be no violation of the statutes, so the "in violation of any provision of this section" clause wouldn't be activated. Proving it could be a little difficult, and I'd expect the handgun to be confiscated while the young person is proving they acquired it legally, at least in most CT towns and with the attitudes I've heard from most CT LEO's, but there's nothing in the law which calls for that.

I suspect such a handgun found in the possession of such a young person in any place other than that young person's residence or place of business would be confiscated, as the person would be in violation of the State's laws about carrying and transporting handguns, which is illegal without a permit and permits only available to those over the age of 21, but that's no different from someone over the age of 21.

Johnny W said:

or transferred it in from out of state,

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Do you mean 'transported' it as in; they legally owned it in say Vermont and they moved to Connecticut. I can't see how it could be legally 'transferred' into CT via a FFL to a 18-21-year old.

That would be legal, since as others have pointed out, the law does not address anything but "transferring" the handgun.

Here's another fun CT law mental gyration. A 18 year old buys a 16" AR. He files a Form 1 with the FFL to make a Short Barreled Rifle or SBR.

He puts a 11.5" upper on it.

By CT law, which considers any rifle or shotgun with a bbl less than 12" to be a handgun, he now has a handgun. It was never transferred to him.

Don

Johnny W said:

and I'd expect the handgun to be confiscated while the young person is proving they acquired it legally, at least in most CT towns and with the attitudes I've heard from most CT LEO's, but there's nothing in the law which calls for that.

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Then we should not expect that to happen, but we should be ready to defend the people involved if it did happen.

LEOs enforce the laws, they don't get to make them or interpret them.

Low Expectations

Rich, you're totally right about the way LEOs should operate. Unfortunately, your own experiences, as well as the experiences of others, show that the expectations for LEOs in this state are considerably lower than they ought to be. And in keeping with that, I'd rather keep my expectation of their response low, so I can be pleasantly surprised when they do what they should, rather than keep my expectations high and be arrested or harassed when they act outside the law. Call it pessimism if you will, I think of it as realism.

Understanding that the situation is bad is not at all the same as accepting a bad situation, however. You need to admit that things are bad before you can begin to change them.

18 yr old can't register NFA

dcmdon said:

That would be legal, since as others have pointed out, the law does not address anything but "transferring" the handgun.

Here's another fun CT law mental gyration. A 18 year old buys a 16" AR. He files a Form 1 with the FFL to make a Short Barreled Rifle or SBR.

He puts a 11.5" upper on it.

By CT law, which considers any rifle or shotgun with a bbl less than 12" to be a handgun, he now has a handgun. It was never transferred to him.

Don

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An 18 year old can't "Form 1" an SBR. NFA requires you to be 21.

Thanks for setting me straight on that one.

Do you have the statute? I'm not challenging, but I'd like to see the language.
The reason I ask is that I own all my NFA stuff via a trust. If I named a person as a trustee
they would be able to possess the NFA weapon, although it would never "transfer" to them.

So it is relevant if the law uses the words "make" or "transfer" or instead uses the word "possess".
If its "make or transfer" then the 18 yr old could legally end up in possession of a 10.5" SBR".

I realize I'm talking about unlikely scenarios, but its good to understand this stuff.