Connecticut Just Banned Popular Handguns

Connecticut officially just took another swing at some of America’s most popular handguns.

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On May 26, Ned Lamont signed H.B. 5043 into law, targeting so-called “convertible pistols,” semiautomatic handguns lawmakers argue could be illegally modified with machine gun conversion devices.

And the backlash from the firearms world was immediate.

NRA-ILA blasted the law as another attack on law-abiding gun owners, while NSSF says it plans to challenge the measure in court.

Translation: Connecticut just lit another major Second Amendment fuse.

Under the new law, the state will ban future manufacture, sale, and importation of many striker-fired pistols beginning October 1, 2026. The legislation specifically targets handguns using cruciform trigger bar systems that lawmakers claim could be modified using illegal machine gun conversion devices, often called “switches” or MCDs.

And the penalties? Not small. Violating the new law could land someone with a Class D felony. For owning or selling a handgun that’s otherwise legal today.

No doubt, everybody immediately thought of Glocks. That’s because critics argue the bill effectively targets some of the most common carry and duty pistols in America under the theory that criminals might illegally modify them.

There’s just one pretty massive problem with that logic, according to gun rights groups: The modifications are already wildly illegal.

Federal law already makes possessing or installing a machine gun conversion device a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and massive fines.

NSSF Senior Vice President Lawrence G. Keane accused Connecticut lawmakers of punishing ordinary gun owners instead of violent criminals.

“To borrow a line from James Carville,” Keane said, “‘it’s the criminal, stupid.’”

The broader concern from groups like NRA-ILA and the Connecticut Firearms Association is what many gun owners call the “squeeze effect.”

First one platform gets restricted. Then another. Then another. And before long, guns that were considered perfectly mainstream five years earlier suddenly become politically radioactive.

That’s why opponents keep hammering one phrase throughout this fight: “common use.”

Since District of Columbia v. Heller, courts have repeatedly grappled with whether states can outright ban firearms owned by millions of Americans for lawful purposes like self-defense.

And striker-fired pistols absolutely dominate the modern handgun market. The irony here is almost impossible to miss too.

At the exact same time Americans are buying more concealed carry pistols than ever before, states like Connecticut are increasingly targeting the very platforms most people actually carry.

Meanwhile, criminals using illegal conversion devices remain criminals… because criminals, shockingly, tend not to follow weapons laws. Now the next battle moves to the courts.

Sadly, Connecticut isn’t the only state heading down this road.

Just one day before Lamont signed H.B. 5043, the National Rifle Association, Firearms Policy Coalition, and Second Amendment Foundation filed a federal lawsuit challenging a nearly identical handgun ban recently signed in Maryland by Wes Moore.

That law, Senate Bill 334, targets so-called “machine gun convertible pistols” and effectively bans most Glock-pattern handguns beginning January 1, 2027. The lawsuit: National Rifle Association of America v. Moore, argues the ban directly violates the Supreme Court’s rulings in District of Columbia v. Heller by prohibiting firearms that are clearly in common use for lawful purposes like self-defense.

Gun rights groups also point out that similar legislation has surfaced in places like California, raising growing concerns among firearm owners that states are increasingly targeting mainstream striker-fired pistols under the broader justification of stopping illegal machine gun conversion devices.

In other words, this probably isn’t staying contained to Connecticut for very long.

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