An Act Concerning The Department Of Emergency Services And Public Protection's Recommendations Regarding Firearm Information, Security Officers, Firearm Transfers And School Security Grants And The Fire Marshal Training Council, The Commission On Fire Prevention And Control And The Codes And Standards Committee.
HB 6859 is a broad public safety and emergency-services bill that implements recommendations from the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection. A major portion of the bill revises Connecticut’s firearm tracing and transfer laws. It requires law enforcement agencies to trace seized or recovered firearms through the federal eTrace system, enter stolen or missing firearms into COLLECT, and return stolen firearms and ammunition to rightful owners when lawful and not needed as evidence. It also updates the rules for security officers, including permit requirements for armed and less-lethal weapons, annual refresher training, instructor approval standards, and licensing procedures.
The bill also rewrites the state’s firearm transfer framework for pistols, revolvers, and long guns. It replaces older paper-application language with transfer documents, authorization numbers, and electronic or mailed reporting to the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection and local police. It preserves background-check requirements, imposes waiting periods and age limits for certain long-gun sales, and maintains criminal penalties for unlawful transfers, including enhanced penalties for stolen or altered firearms. In addition, it expands and clarifies school security grant eligibility and funding, authorizes bond proceeds for school security infrastructure, and makes changes to the Fire Marshal Training Council, the Commission on Fire Prevention and Control, and a working group to study the Codes and Standards Committee.
The bill amends multiple titles of the Connecticut General Statutes, primarily chapters governing firearms, security officers, school security grants, and fire-service governance. It modernizes firearm tracing and transfer procedures, changes licensing and training rules for security officers and instructors, adjusts criminal penalties and exemptions related to weapons possession and firearm transfers, and revises the administration of school security infrastructure grants and related bond funding. It also restructures advisory and regulatory bodies in the fire and building-safety arena by changing membership and duties of the Fire Marshal Training Council and the Commission on Fire Prevention and Control, while creating a study working group on the Codes and Standards Committee.
The bill appears to have been broadly supported. It passed committee votes and both chambers overwhelmingly, including unanimous or near-unanimous floor votes in the House and Senate. The voting history suggests a strong bipartisan consensus around the bill’s public safety, school security, and administrative modernization provisions.
No committee transcript was provided, and the recorded votes show little overt opposition, so there is no clear evidence of major controversy in the available materials. The most likely areas of policy sensitivity are the firearm-related provisions—especially the expanded transfer documentation, background-check, waiting-period, and reporting requirements—and the changes to security officer licensing and training. The school security grant and fire-governance sections are less likely to have been contentious, but the bill’s broad scope means it touches multiple stakeholder groups, including gun owners, firearms dealers, security firms, schools, municipalities, fire marshals, and state agencies.