Connecticut Glock Ban Blocked: Sales Continue After Oct. 1

A federal judge blocked Connecticut's convertible-pistol sales ban on September 30, 2026, before its October 1 effective date. The ruling lets businesses continue selling covered pistols while the injunction remains in effect.

Glock confirmed the result in its October 1 announcement. The company said Connecticut businesses may keep importing, advertising, offering, and selling Glock pistols, including those manufactured on or after October 1.

Judge Dooley found that the challengers were likely to win their Second Amendment claim and would suffer irreparable harm without relief. Connecticut failed to show that the restriction fit the nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation.

The ruling covers two cases filed September 21: Glock, Inc. v. Griffin, No. 3:26-cv-01525, and National Shooting Sports Foundation Inc. v. Griffin, No. 3:26-cv-01528. Shadow Systems and Blue Trail Range joined NSSF's case. The court heard both motions on September 29 and granted relief the next day.

The court rejected the state's comparison to historic laws that tested firearms for safety and to restrictions on machine guns. A semiautomatic pistol sold for lawful use does not become a machine gun simply because someone could later alter it illegally. NSSF welcomed the ruling on October 1 as a hold on the ban while the constitutional challenge proceeds.

Section 3(a) targets covered pistols manufactured on or after October 1, 2026. It makes knowingly importing, advertising, selling, offering, or exposing those pistols for sale a Class D felony. The court's separate enforcement order blocks that provision.

Governor Ned Lamont approved Public Act 26-41, originally H.B. 5043, on May 26, 2026. Its definition centers on a cruciform trigger bar, a trigger linkage with a cross-shaped sear surface. A pistol falls within the definition when it can be readily altered by hand or with a common household tool to accept a pistol converter that enables automatic fire.

The definition excludes hammer-fired semiautomatic pistols. It also excludes pistols with a molded frame tab or other material shielding the cruciform trigger bar, unless that material can be readily removed. Section 3(b) separately exempts otherwise lawful transfers between two people who are not licensed gun dealers.

The act names a design, not a catalog of models. It does not place Glock generations, Slimline pistols, the V Series, Gen 6, the PSA Dagger, or Shadow Systems in or out by name. In the injunction opinion, Judge Dooley wrote that the court need not decide whether Glock SlimLine or Series VI pistols fall outside the definition. Counsel for the state said that assessment was underway. Those families stay disputed until a court, the statute, or a state agency says otherwise.

A Glock buyer can continue with a lawful purchase while the injunction is in effect. Glock's statement says other federal, state, and local firearm laws still apply. The ruling does not remove permit, background-check, magazine, or other requirements that apply to a particular purchase.

The convertible-pistol sales provision does not order existing owners to surrender their pistols. Even before the injunction, its manufacture date left pistols made before October 1 outside Section 3(a). The distinction matters for both new production and older inventory.

Hammer-fired pistols remain outside the act's convertible-pistol definition. Our 1911 guide and 2011 guide compare two hammer-fired families. Use the compare tool to assess size and features; purchase eligibility still depends on Connecticut's other firearm laws.

This is a pause in enforcement, not a final judgment removing the law. Glock says it will keep seeking permanent protection. The restriction stays blocked while the preliminary injunction remains in effect; a later court order could change that status.

The order applies to the Connecticut defendants. Separate challenges to the Maryland Glock ban and California's AB 1127 proceed under their own laws and cases.