To buy or carry a pistol in Connecticut you need a State Permit to Carry Pistols and Revolvers, and you get there through your own town. Eight steps, one form, three sets of fees and a statutory eight-week clock. Here is the whole route, in order, with what each step actually costs you in time.
Steps 1 to 5 are on your clock — most applicants spend two to six weeks getting a course seat and an appointment. Step 6 is on theirs, and it is the one this site measures.
Before you pay for anything, read the disqualifiers. You must be 21 or older, a legal resident of the United States, and a resident of the town where you apply — or the town where you have a bona fide business.
This is a summary, not the statute. A juvenile adjudication or a sealed case can still matter — if anything in your history is close to the line, ask a Connecticut firearms attorney before you file.
Connecticut requires a course covering the safe handling and use of a pistol, including live fire. The NRA Basic Pistol course is the one most instructors teach and most issuing authorities recognise. You will hand in the certificate with your application, so ask for the original and keep a copy.
Classroom plus range. The wait for a seat is often longer than the course.
Online-only courses are not accepted. Confirm the instructor’s certification before paying.
The application for a temporary state pistol permit is form DPS-799-C, filed with the authority for the town you live in: your municipal police department, the resident state trooper, or the first selectman’s office. Call first — this is where towns differ most.
Your prints go to the State Police and the FBI for criminal history checks — this is the part of the process neither you nor your town controls. Bring photo identification, your course certificate, the completed form and the fingerprint fees.
Three separate charges, paid at different counters, plus the course. Budget on the order of $200–$250 before training costs — and confirm the current amounts with your issuing authority, because they change.
Fees are generally non-refundable, including if you are denied. That is the argument for reading step 1 twice.
From a completed application, your issuing authority has eight weeks — 56 calendar days to approve or deny. This is the step that varies wildly by town, and the only step this site measures. Write down the date you handed the form in.
Approval gets you a temporary state pistol permit, valid 60 days. Inside that window you take it to a DESPP location to be photographed and issued the five-year State Permit to Carry Pistols and Revolvers. Miss the window and you are back at the start — book the appointment the day you are approved.
A denial or revocation can be appealed to the Board of Firearms Permit Examiners, generally within 90 days of the decision. The board holds hearings and can order a permit issued. Hearing dates run months out, so file the appeal early and keep every document from the application.
21. There is no younger route to a carry permit, though long-gun eligibility certificates have their own rules.
A DESPP-approved handgun course that includes live fire — NRA Basic Pistol is the common choice. Online-only training is not enough.
Roughly $200–$250 in fees, plus the course. Amounts change, and are generally non-refundable if you are denied.
The law says eight weeks. Reported waits run from under three weeks to more than four months depending on the town — look yours up on the map.
You need either a pistol permit or a pistol/revolver eligibility certificate to purchase. The permit is the one that also lets you carry.
Put your status request in writing, keep the copy, and speak to an attorney about the Board of Firearms Permit Examiners. Silence past 56 days is not compliance.
Two dates — the day you filed and the day the permit was in your hand — is the whole contribution. It is what makes step 6 measurable for the next applicant.