Section 53-206 - Carrying of dangerous weapons prohibited(a) Any person who carries upon his or her person any BB. gun, blackjack, metal or brass knuckles, or any dirk knife, or any switch knife, or any knife having an automatic spring release device by which a blade is released from the handle, having a blade of over one and one-half inches in length, or stiletto, or any knife the edged portion of the blade of which is four inches or more in length, any police baton or nightstick, or any martial arts weapon or electronic defense weapon, as defined in section 53a-3, or any other dangerous or deadly weapon or instrument, shall be guilty of a class E felony. Whenever any person is found guilty of a violation of this section, any weapon or other instrument within the provisions of this section, found upon the body of such person, shall be forfeited to the municipality wherein such person was apprehended, notwithstanding any failure of the judgment of conviction to expressly impose such forfeiture.(b) The provisions of this section shall not apply to (1) any officer charged with the preservation of the public peace while engaged in the pursuit of such officer's official duties; (2) the carrying of a baton or nightstick by a security guard while engaged in the pursuit of such guard's official duties; (3) the carrying of a knife, the edged portion of the blade of which is four inches or more in length, by (A) any member of the armed forces of the United States, as defined in section 27-103, or any reserve component thereof, or of the armed forces of the state, as defined in section 27-2, when on duty or going to or from duty, (B) any member of any military organization when on parade or when going to or from any place of assembly, (C) any person while transporting such knife as merchandise or for display at an authorized gun or knife show, (D) any person who is found with any such knife concealed upon one's person while lawfully removing such person's household goods or effects from one place to another, or from one residence to another, (E) any person while actually and peaceably engaged in carrying any such knife from such person's place of abode or business to a place or person where or by whom such knife is to be repaired, or while actually and peaceably returning to such person's place of abode or business with such knife after the same has been repaired, (F) any person holding a valid hunting, fishing or trapping license issued pursuant to chapter 490 or any saltwater fisherman carrying such knife for lawful hunting, fishing or trapping activities, or (G) any person while participating in an authorized historic reenactment; (4) the carrying by any person enrolled in or currently attending, or an instructor at, a martial arts school of a martial arts weapon while in a class or at an authorized event or competition or while transporting such weapon to or from such class, event or competition; (5) the carrying of a BB. gun by any person taking part in a supervised event or competition of the Boy Scouts of America or the Girl Scouts of America or in any other authorized event or competition while taking part in such event or competition or while transporting such weapon to or from such event or competition; (6) the carrying of an electronic defense weapon, as defined in section 53a-3, by any person who is twenty-one years of age or older and possesses a permit or certificate issued under the provisions of section 29-28, 29-36f, 29-37p or 29-38n; and (7) the carrying of a BB. gun by any person upon such person's own property or the property of another person provided such other person has authorized the carrying of such weapon on such property, and the transporting of such weapon to or from such property.Conn. Gen. Stat. § 53-206
(1949 Rev., S. 8540; 1953, S. 3287d; P.A. 86-287, S. 1; P.A. 87-220, S. 1; P.A. 98-129, S. 9; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 98-1, S. 120, 121; P.A. 99-212, S. 12; P.A. 03-19, S. 123; P.A. 10-32, S. 148; P.A. 13-258, S. 30; P.A. 14-122, S. 57.)
Amended by P.A. 21-0031,S. 2 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2021 Regular Session, eff. 7/1/2021.Amended by P.A. 14-0122, S. 57 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2014 Regular Session, eff. 10/1/2014. Cited. 138 C. 485; 153 C. 584. Burden on prosecution to prove defendant did not possess a written permit. 179 C. 516. Cited. 195 Conn. 668; 208 C. 689; 209 C. 322; 210 C. 110; Id., 199; 211 C. 672; 217 C. 73; 226 Conn. 497; 229 C. 691; 236 Conn. 189; 240 C. 317. Offense of carrying a dangerous weapon is not constitutionally overbroad in violation of the first and fourteenth amendments to the U.S. Constitution; the circumstances surrounding an alleged threat are critical in determining if the threat is a true threat; the trial court should have instructed jury to consider the particular factual context in which the allegedly threatening conduct occurred, including the victim's reaction to defendant's actions before and after the allegedly threatening conduct; defendant's threatened use of a table leg to inflict serious bodily injury against victim, in the event that victim continued to bother him, constitutes a violation of this section and Sec. 53a-3 if the threat is found to be a true threat not protected by the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution. 287 C. 237. Cited. 1 CA 642; 7 CA 149; 9 Conn.App. 330; 10 CA 532; 11 CA 665; 17 Conn.App. 556; 21 CA 299; 25 Conn.App. 433; 27 CA 601; 39 CA 175; 41 CA 391; 43 CA 488. Compared with Sec. 29-38. 10 CS 272. A razor is not a dangerous or deadly weapon per se; whether it becomes one is a question of fact for the trier; the fact that a razor is specifically included in Sec. 53-207 does not mean that it is excluded from this section. 23 CS 425. History discussed; concealment is not an element of the crime; .22 caliber air-operated single-shot pellet gun held to be a dangerous weapon. 24 CS 85. Cited. 5 Conn. Cir. Ct. 313. Knife not coming within description of statute cannot be included as "any other dangerous or deadly weapon" and is not within prohibition of section. Id., 551. Subsec. (b): Exceptions in Subdiv. (3)(D) and (E) plainly and unambiguously apply only to the carrying of long knives, and said Subdiv. implicitly provides an exception for carrying a long knife in one's residence or abode; in this case, defendant carried a switchblade knife which was prohibited irrespective of location, and section recognizes no presumed lawful reason for carrying a switchblade knife. 300 C. 368.
See Sec. 29-32b re Board of Firearms Permit Examiners. See Sec. 29-38 re weapons in vehicles.