Conn. Gen. Stat. § 54-36n: Identification and tracing of seized and recovered firearms and ammunition.

(a) Whenever a law enforcement agency seizes a firearm in connection with a criminal arrest or pursuant to a search warrant without an arrest or otherwise recovers a firearm, such agency shall forthwith take all appropriate steps to identify and trace the history of such firearm. For the purposes of this section, “law enforcement agency” means the Division of State Police within the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, any municipal police department or any special police force established pursuant to section 10a-156b.

(b) In complying with the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, a law enforcement agency shall: (1) Submit all available information identifying such firearm to the National Tracing Center of the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, via said center's electronic tracing system known as “eTrace”; (2) opt to allow such information to be shared via eTrace; and (3) for any such firearm that was stolen or is missing, enter such information into the Connecticut On-Line Law Enforcement Communications Teleprocessing (COLLECT) System.

(c) Whenever a firearm is identified and is determined to have been stolen, the law enforcement agency shall return such firearm, and any ammunition seized or recovered with such firearm that is determined to be stolen, to the rightful owner thereof, provided such owner is not prohibited from possessing such firearm or ammunition and such agency does not need to retain such firearm or ammunition as evidence in a criminal prosecution.