Backlog for firearms appeals pushes hearings into 2026

Yahoo

02-11-2024

Nov. 2—When 65-year-old John Hinman of Avon applied for a pistol permit to the Avon Police Department on July 19, 2022, he did not foresee any problems.
The U.S. Army veteran had never had a run-in with the law and could think of no reason he would be denied a permit. Hinman said he simply wanted to be able to carry a gun to the shooting range with his son-in-law, as is his constitutional right.
But it took him more than two years to get approval after his initial denial for "suitability" from the Avon Police Department. Hinman had been denied because of the circumstances of how he left the Army in the 1970s, which he claims was related to a medical condition.
Hinman is one of hundreds of people who appeal to the Board of Firearms Permit Examiners each year either to fight a denial or have a permit reinstated after it was revoked.
The reason it took Hinman so long to get a hearing is the backlog of cases ― 1,217 as of October.
The backlog has been a recurring problem and has delayed the appeals process for at least two decades, since 2001, according to the most recent state audit of the Office of Governmental Accountability. The audit showed a backlog of 1260 cases ― 735 revocations and 525 denials ― in 2022.
"The considerable delay between the receipt of appeal requests and the related hearing or negotiated (Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection) settlement may deny appellants their right to a timely hearing," the audit concluded.
DESPP reinstates some of the revocations on its own, such as when it is notified that a court order barring an individual from holding a permit expires.
The current backlog means that anyone filing an appeal now will be scheduled for a meeting in May 2026 despite efforts in recent years by the nine-member volunteer board to increase the number of hearings. The board meets twice monthly and schedules up to 30 cases per meeting, knowing many have been resolved before the hearing date.
Even though some revocations are handled by state police, auditors found a lack of notice to the board resulted in hearings being scheduled that had already been resolved.
In fiscal year 2023-24, the board held 21 meetings and heard 193 cases but processed 781 cases, the board's office manager, Nancy Lotas, said.
New Britain-based attorney Ralph Sherman, who frequently represents clients coming before the board, said the wait is "egregious" and leads to other problems, such as clients moving before a hearing date and being forced to reapply to a different agency, starting the entire process over.
"It's not the board's fault. They can only go through so many cases because they only have so much manpower," Sherman said.
His suggestion is to increase the number of board members and split the group up to hold more meetings. There are eight members on the board, nominees from a mix of state agencies, gun groups and individuals, all appointed by the governor. The chairman is attorney Carolyn Futtner, who was appointed as a member of the public.
While he understands that volunteering on a board with so much work is likely difficult, Sherman also thinks the problem has been largely ignored.
"Why? I don't know why," Sherman said.
Denials and revocations
In Connecticut, people are disqualified from obtaining a gun permit if they are convicted of any felony and certain misdemeanor crimes ― everything from third-degree assault to second-degree stalking. A criminal conviction is not the only grounds for a denial, however. A person can be denied for reasons that include restraining or protective orders, mental illness or lack of suitability, as was the case for Hinman.
Permits can similarly be revoked for things like driving while intoxicated with a firearm or criminal conviction.
Someone applying for a temporary pistol permit must first go to the local police chief or equivalent. That person or agency has eight weeks to make a decision, and the approval at the local level ultimately leads to a decision by the the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection's Special Licensing and Firearms Unit, the agency that issues the state permit.
As with pistol permit holders, the names of people filing an appeal are kept confidential. Hinman agreed to provide his name after his meeting in September. He said he was stunned by the length of time it took before he could be heard and disagreed with the initial denial.
"I had to wait two years," Hinman said with a head shake.
Hinman said he was just as perturbed by the denial. During his hearing on Sept. 19, Avon Police Sgt. Jeff Gilbert explained to the board that Hinman was denied for suitability because he checked "no" to a question about whether his discharge from the Army was "less than honorable."
"I had no intentions of lying on my application," Hinman said. "It does not say less than honorable. It says 'other than honorable.' I did not serve less than honorably. When I was in the service I served honorably. I was discharged for medical reasons."
Hinman explained to the board that he worked on an aircraft carrier in the 1970s and was getting sick during renovations to the ship that included exposure to asbestos. Hinman said he served aboard the USS Forrestal.
Hinman's is among a variety of cases to come before the board in recent weeks, several on that September date and others in which people waited more than a year to be told a criminal conviction automatically disqualifies them from obtaining a permit.
One man who appeared before the board last month had been denied a permit for lack of suitability by the Naugatuck Police Department.
The man, who was not identified, applied for a pistol permit on June 17, 2022. Police said a database search found two instances in which interactions with police and emergency committals led to the decision. The man was taking medication for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
At an Oct. 24 meeting before the board, the man talked about his faith, his visions and being a prophet.
He also seemed to indicate he believed he had killed someone with his mind.
Attorney Stephen Sanetti, a board member and member of Ye Connecticut Gun Guild, asked the man, "It sounded like you were either dreaming or hearing voices and something about people that were bad people out there you wished bad things about?"
The man explained that a woman had shamed him in front of his co-workers. The man did not explain who the woman was or how she embarrassed him.
"I've heard of curses and stuff like that. I didn't know they would actually work at that time. I simply sent her a curse in my head. I said what I wanted to have happen. And two weeks later I found out she had passed. I felt bad," the man said.
"In your mind do you think you might have helped caused that?" Sanetti asked.
The man said he did. His appeal was denied.
In its response to the state audit in 2022, the board agreed with recommendations that it reduce its backlog and said it looked forward to DESPP's new background check system feature being implemented.
The new system, according to DESPP, has a feature that allows for an electronic interface between DESPP and the board, allowing notices to be sent when a permit is reinstated.
Sgt. Brianna Maurice, a member of the Connecticut State Police Special Licensing and Firearms Unit, said the notification system was implemented in 2022. It generates an email to the BFPE when permits have been reinstated, so the staff there can remove people from the docket list immediately.
Maurice said her unit on a daily basis handles revocations for protective orders, restraining orders and mental health check-ins ― both voluntary and involuntary. It is also the unit that revokes permits due to referrals based on investigations conducted by state and local police.
Requests for comment from the board were not answered. Along with Futtner, and Sanetti, other members of the Board of Firearms Permit Examiners are: Col. Kyle E. Overturf, a representative of the Connecticut State Rifles and Revolvers Association; Dr. Cynthia Conrad, a representative from the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services; Elbert Gray III, public member appointed by Gov. Ned Lamont; Gudrun Johnson, a representative of the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection; Chris Lewis, a representative of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection; and Chief Carl Rosensweig, a representative of Connecticut Police Chiefs Association.
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