BFPE: How do I Appeal?

1^st Send an Appeal Letter: link to sample letter

You must first send a letter requesting an appeal within 90 days, from the date of revocation or denial. If available, please send a copy of the denial or revocation letter. Send the letter to Board of Firearms Permit Examiners, 505 Hudson St. 5th floor, Hartford, CT 06106.

2^nd Send The Appellant Questionnaire: link to questionnaire

Scroll to bottom of page to "Printable Version" and print. Complete the 3 page questionnaire. The deadline to send in the questionnaire is 90 days, or your case will be placed on the "Dormancy Calendar" at the next hearing. This could mean your appeal will end.

The last page of the Questionnaire is an “Arrest History and Motor Vehicle History” form. Please note the word arrest History vs. Conviction. If you are not sure of what you were charged with when arrested or you forgot the date, you can get a copy of your arrest record from the Dept of Public Safety (D.P.S) for $25 (860-685-8290) and a copy of your motor vehicle history from the Dept. of Motor Vehicles for $30. We suggest you should also send copies of court documents, letters of recommendation, certificates, or witness testimony letters if available.

*Due to budget constraints the Board staff will be not be sending a letter to confirm receipt of the Questionnaire.

It is advised that you call the office 860-566-7078 if you have any questions and/or one week after you mail the questionnaire to confirm it was received.

Hearing Date:

You will be assigned a hearing date once the Board receives your appeal letter.

Reasons to contact the Board Immediately:

If your home address or phone number changes, you need to call the Board staff immediately. When the Board is ready to hear your case, a hearing notice will be sent by “certified letter” to your home address with the date, time, place and driving directions on how to get to the hearing.

If you miss the hearing, you will be considered a “NO SHOW” and the Board members will decide in favor of the “issuing authority” (police) and your case is closed.

Schedule Deadlines: IF you need to delay the date of your hearing:

The Board Secretary requires you to mail or fax a letter, with a “documentation of necessity”, or proof why it necessary to delay a hearing. For example: a doctors note.

1) If you are requesting a delay prior to the hearing date, you will need to mail or fax, the reason why, including proof or a "documentation of necessity". The Board Secretary will decide if your case will be rescheduled or if you need to continue with the current date.

2) If you ask to delay on the day of the hearing, you must call the staff at 860-566-7078 and fax the documentation of necessity to the staff (860) 566-7079 by 10:00AM. Only if staff is able to contact the Board Secretary, will he consider the reason why you want to delay the hearing. Please be aware that it is possible the Board Secretary may not be reached. It is important that you attend the hearing if you do not receive a reply. If the appellant does not attend the hearing scheduled, the Board will vote to uphold the decision to deny or revoke by default.

At the Hearing:

You will appear before a civilian review board. The Board consists of 7 members. There are two public members, two members recommended by firearm organizations and one member each recommended by the Department of Public Safety, the Dept. of Environmental Protection and the Police Chiefs Association. The Chairman needs to be an attorney.

The Board is not part of law enforcement. The Board is a civilian review board and will require the same information from the Department of Public Safety (State Police), as it does from you, the appellant.

You are the “Appellant" and also appearing is the “Issuing Authority”, the Department of Public Safety. You may represent yourself or hire an attorney to represent you at the hearing. If you decide to hire an attorney, please have them write a ”letter of representation” to the Board stating this.

Once you are at the hearing, the Chairman will instruct you on how the hearing is to proceed. You will be sworn in and the hearing will be recorded. You should ask questions if you don’t understand the process.

You the Appellant and the State Police will be given time for an opening statement (two or three sentences on why you are there). Each side will be given a turn to testify. When it’s your turn, you will state the reason why the Board should issue or reinstate your pistol permit. You are allowed to bring witnesses, court documents or other relevant documents to the hearing to help your case. You will be given time for closing remarks.

If you stick to the facts, speak loud and clearly it's helpful to the Board members.

At the end of the day the Board will vote on each of the cases heard. You will get a letter within 20 days of the Board’s decision. You may stay to hear the deliberations and find out if you have been granted or refused your pistol permit.

Should the Board members vote in your favor, you will need to contact the Special Licensing and Firearms Unit, 860-685-8285, to be issued or reinstated your pistol permit.

Should the Board members vote in favor of the issuing authority (police), you will be sent a letter with the reasons why you were denied. If you feel you haven’t been treated fairly by the Board, you may appeal to Superior court. Refer to Connecticut General Statute 4-183, Appeals to Superior Court.

Important: The information on this site should not be substituted for the State of Connecticut General Statutes. Click on this link to the Connecticut General Statutes