(a) No person shall remove, deface, alter or obliterate the name of any maker or model or any maker's number or other mark of identification on any firearm as defined in section 53a-3. The possession of any firearm upon which any identifying mark, number or name has been removed, defaced, altered or obliterated shall be prima facie evidence that the person owning or in possession of such firearm has removed, defaced, altered or obliterated the same.

(b) Any person who violates any provision of this section shall be guilty of a class C felony for which two years of the sentence imposed may not be suspended or reduced by the court, and five thousand dollars of the fine imposed may not be remitted or reduced by the court unless the court states on the record its reasons for remitting or reducing such fine, and any firearm found in the possession of any person in violation of said provision shall be forfeited.

(1949 Rev., S. 4167; P.A. 97-56, S. 1; P.A. 13-3, S. 49.)

History: P.A. 97-56 designated existing provisions as Subsec. (a), amended said Subsec. (a) to replace “pistol or revolver” with “firearm” and include defacing an identifying mark, number or name as a prohibited act and added Subsec. (b) re the penalty for a violation, revising the penalty formerly located in Sec. 29-37(a) to include all firearms; P.A. 13-3 amended Subsec. (b) to change penalty from fine of not more than $1,000 or imprisonment of not more than 5 years to a class C felony for which 2 years of the sentence imposed may not be suspended or reduced and $5,000 of the fine may not be remitted or reduced unless the court states its reasons on the record.

Cited. 193 C. 7; 237 C. 348.

Cited. 9 CA 169; judgment reversed, see 205 C. 370; 19 CA 51; 42 CA 768. Possession of weapon on which the identification mark has been altered or obliterated is prima facie evidence that the person in possession of weapon altered or obliterated the identification number; further, statute does not, by its language, limit application of the inference to situations in which accused is in actual possession of a pistol. 70 CA 232.

Subsec. (a):

Provision re possession as prima facie evidence of alteration is permissive inference, not mandatory presumption. 246 C. 339.