NEW BRITAIN, Conn. (AP) Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is holding out the possibility of establishing a grace period for gun owners who missed the Jan. 1 deadline for registering certain weapons and ammunition magazines under a new law.

Malloy said Monday his administration is saving the registration applications and envelopes postmarked Jan. 1, Jan. 2 and possibly Jan. 3. He said it's in case the General Assembly passes legislation allowing those applications to be counted as having arrived on time.

Malloy emphasized how said State Police staff remained until 8 p.m. at the Middletown headquarters to help people Dec. 31. The deadline was midnight that night.

Some gun owners have complained they dropped their applications in the mail on Dec. 31 but missed the deadline because their letters weren't postmarked until Jan. 1 or later.