A new Connecticut law bolsters gun safety regulations by closing loopholes in the state’s ghost gun law and banning forced reset triggers.

House Bill 5043 targets devices that alter a gun and allow it to fire faster — in some instances, up to 15 rounds of ammunition per second.

Residents and groups including Connecticut Citizens Defense League heavily opposed the bill, arguing it infringes on Second Amendment rights. Stacey Mayer, advocacy, policy, and outreach director for Connecticut Against Gun Violence, said the law is not about restricting those rights.

“What we’re trying to do is encourage manufacturers, because we know they’re capable of doing this, we’re encouraging manufacturers to change the way they’ve designed their product to make it less able to be converted into a machine gun,” Mayer said.

Some gun owners support the law, saying it keeps communities safe and takes direct aim at a growing safety crisis.

Data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives found police recovered more than 11,000 machine gun conversion devices between 2019 and 2023 — a 784% increase from previous years.

Although Connecticut has had a ghost gun ban on the books since 2019, Mayer said the new law closes loopholes by modernizing the definitions of “unfinished lower receiver” and “unfinished frame.”

For the 2027 legislative session, Mayer said there will be a push to strengthen existing gun safety regulations, including the state’s red flag law.

“There are ways we’re thinking to strengthen that and make sure that mental health supports are provided,” she said. “Support for mental health, I think, writ large, is an issue that's very linked to gun-violence prevention.”

Mayer said there is also work to do to help people returning to their communities after being released from prison.

Connecticut’s 2025 State of Re-Entry report found people released on June 1 or within six months of that date faced significant mental and physical health challenges, substance abuse disorders, and issues getting housing or employment.

Source: Public News Service