Nov. 2 – When 65-year-old John Hinman of Avon applied for a pistol permit from the Avon Police Department on July 19, 2022, he didn’t foresee any problems.
The US Army veteran had never been in trouble with the law and could think of no reason why he should 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, which is his constitutional right.
But it took him more than two years to get approval after initially being rejected by Avon Police due to ‘eligibility’. Hinman was denied due to the circumstances under which he left the military in the 1970s, which he said was related to a medical condition.
Hinman is one of hundreds of people who appeal to the Board of Firearms Permit Examiners each year to challenge a denial or to have a permit reinstated after it has been revoked.
The reason it took so long for Hinman to be heard is the backlog of cases: 1,217 in October.
The backlog is a recurring problem and has delayed the appeals process at least 20 years since 2001, according to the most recent state audit from the Office of Governmental Accountability. The audit showed a backlog of 1,260 cases – 735 withdrawals and 525 refusals – in 2022.
“The significant delay between the receipt of the appeal requests and the related hearing or negotiated settlement (Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection) may deny appellants their right to a timely hearing,” the audit concluded.
DESPP reinstates some of the revocations itself, such as when it is notified that a court order prohibiting a person from holding a permit is expiring.
The current backlog means anyone who files an appeal now will be scheduled for a meeting in May 2026, despite efforts by the nine-member volunteer board in recent years to increase the number of hearings. The board meets twice a month and schedules up to 30 cases per meeting, knowing that many cases will be resolved before the hearing.
While some revocations are handled by state police, auditors found that a lack of notice to the board led to hearings being scheduled that had already been resolved.
In the 2023-2024 fiscal year, the board held 21 meetings and heard 193 cases, but processed 781 cases, said the board’s office manager, Nancy Lotas.
New Britain-based attorney Ralph Sherman, who regularly represents clients appearing before the board, said the wait is “egregious” and leads to other problems, such as clients moving before a hearing and being forced to re-locate to another agency to sign up, making the whole process over.
“It’s not the board’s fault. They can only handle 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 to hold more meetings. There are eight members on the board, nominated from a mix of government agencies, gun groups and individuals, all appointed by the governor. The chair is attorney Carolyn Futtner, who has been appointed as an audience member.
While he understands that volunteering on a board with so much work is likely difficult, Sherman also thinks the problem is largely ignored.
‘Why? I don’t know why,” Sherman said.
Denials and retractions
In Connecticut, people are disqualified from obtaining a gun permit if they are convicted of a misdemeanor and certain misdemeanors — everything from third-degree assault to second-degree stalking. However, a criminal conviction is not the only basis for a refusal. A person can be denied for reasons such as restraining orders or orders of protection, mental illness or incapacity, as was the case for Hinman.
Licenses can be similarly revoked for things like driving under the influence of a firearm or a criminal conviction.
Someone applying for a temporary pistol permit must first apply to the local police chief or equivalent. That person or agency has eight weeks to make a decision, and approval at the local level ultimately leads to a decision by the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection’s Special Licensing and Firearms Unit, the agency that issues the state license.
As with pistol permit holders, the names of people who file appeals are kept confidential. Hinman agreed to release his name after meeting in September. He said he was baffled 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, shaking his head.
Hinman said he was equally disturbed by the denial. During his hearing on September 19, Avon Police Sgt. Jeff Gilbert explained to the board that Hinman was rejected for eligibility because he checked “no” when asked whether his discharge from the military was “not honorable.”
“I had no intention of lying on my application,” Hinman said. ‘It says nothing less than honorable. It says ‘other than honorable.’ I have served with no less than honorability. While I was employed, I was dismissed for medical reasons.”
Hinman explained to the board that he worked on an aircraft carrier in the 1970s and became ill during renovation work on the ship, during which he was exposed to asbestos. Hinman said he served aboard the USS Forrestal.
Hinman’s case is among several brought before the board in recent weeks, including several in September and others in which people waited more than a year before being told that a criminal conviction automatically disqualifies them from obtaining a permit.
One man who appeared before the board last month had a permit denied by Naugatuck police due to lack of eligibility.
The man, who was not identified, applied for a pistol permit on June 17, 2022. Police said a search of the database found two cases where interactions with police and emergencies led to the decision. The man was taking medication for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
During an October 24 meeting for the board, the man spoke about his faith, his visions and the fact that he was a prophet.
He also seemed to indicate that 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 dreaming or hearing voices about people who were bad people that you wished bad things on?”
The man explained that a woman had shamed him in front of his colleagues. The man did not explain who the woman was or how she embarrassed him.
“I’ve heard of curses and things like that. I didn’t know at the time that they would actually work. I just sent her a curse in my head. I said what I wanted to happen. And two weeks later I found out when she was died, I felt bad,” the man said.
“Do you think you might have contributed to that?” Sanetti asked.
The man said yes. His appeal was rejected.
In its response to the 2022 state audit, the board agreed to recommendations to reduce the backlog and said it looks forward to implementing DESPP’s new background check system.
According to DESPP, the new system has a feature that allows an electronic interface between DESPP and the board, allowing notices to be sent when a permit is reinstated.
Sergeant Brianna Maurice, a member of the Connecticut State Police Special Licensing and Firearms Unit, said the reporting system was implemented in 2022. It generates an email to the BFPE when permits are reinstated, so staff there can immediately remove people from the roll list. .
Maurice said her unit handles revocations of protective orders, restraining orders and mental health checks every day – both voluntary and involuntary. It is also the unit that revokes permits based on referrals based on investigations conducted by state and local police.
Requests for comment from the board were not returned. 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 Governor 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 the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association.
g.smith@theday.com
