§ 53-206 — Carrying of dangerous weapons prohibited.

Connecticut § 53-206

• Jurisdiction: Connecticut
• Title 53: Crimes
• Ch. 943: Offenses Against Public Peace and Safety

Text

(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. See Sec. 29-32b re Board of Firearms Permit Examiners. See Sec. 29-38 re weapons in vehicles.

Legislative History

(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; P.A. 21-31, S. 2.) History: P.A. 86-287 amended Subsecs. (a) and (b) by adding “or any martial arts weapon and electronic defense weapon as defined in section 53a-3” and amended Subsec. (a) by adding provision permitting person to carry any martial arts weapon anywhere within state if such person has been granted a permit to do so; P.A. 87-220 made technical changes; P.A. 98-129 replaced requirement that a permit be obtained for the carrying of certain dangerous or deadly weapons or instruments with prohibition on the carrying of such weapons or instruments, deleted slung shot, air rifles and sand bags from the list of prohibited weapons or instruments, added exception for the carrying of knives with blades of four inches or more by certain individuals and deleted requirement that the seller of any such weapon or instrument give written notice of any such sale to the chief of police of the city, warden of the borough or first selectman of the town where such weapon or instrument was sold or delivered; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 98-1 repealed all changes enacted by P.A. 98-129, effective June 24, 1998; P.A. 99-212 substantially revised section including replacing requirement that a permit be obtained for the carrying of certain dangerous or deadly weapons or instruments with prohibition on the carrying of such weapons or instruments, deleting slung shot, air rifle and sand bag from list of prohibited weapons and instruments, adding police baton or nightstick to list of prohibited weapons and instruments, making the exception for an officer charged with preservation of the public peace applicable while the officer is “engaged in the pursuit of such officer's official duties”, adding exception for the carrying of a baton or nightstick by a security guard while engaged in the guard's official duties, adding exception for the carrying of a knife having a blade of four inches or more by certain individuals under certain circumstances, adding exception for the carrying of a martial arts weapon by a student or instructor at a martial arts school under certain circumstances, adding exception for the carrying of a BB. gun by a person taking part in certain supervised or authorized events or competitions under certain circumstances, adding exception for the carrying of a BB. gun on private property with the authorization of the owner and the transporting of such weapon to or from such property and deleting the requirement that the seller of any such weapon or instrument give written notice of such sale to the chief of police of the city, warden of the borough or first selectman of the town where such weapon or instrument was sold or delivered; P.A. 03-19 made a technical change in Subsec. (a), effective May 12, 2003; P.A. 10-32 made technical changes, effective May 10, 2010; P.A. 13-258 amended Subsec. (a) to change penalty from fine of not more than $500 or imprisonment of not more than 3 years to a class E felony; P.A. 14-122 made a technical change in Subsec. (b)(3)(F); P.A. 21-31 amended Subsec. (b) by adding new Subdiv. (6) re electronic defense weapons and redesignating existing Subdiv. (6) as Subdiv. (7), effective July 1, 2021. Cited. 138 C. 485; 153 C. 584. Burden on prosecution to prove defendant did not possess a written permit. 179 C. 516. Cited. 195 C. 668; 208 C. 689; 209 C. 322; 210 C. 110; Id., 199; 211 C. 672; 217 C. 73; 226 C. 497; 229 C. 691; 236 C. 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 CA 330; 10 CA 532; 11 CA 665; 17 CA 556; 21 CA 299; 25 CA 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.