Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

GUN LAWS  

Nevada Gun Laws

STATE CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISION - Article 1, Section 11, Paragraph 1.

“Every citizen has the right to keep and bear arms for security and defense, for lawful hunting and recreational use and for other lawful purposes.”

Gun Laws Overview

RIFLES & SHOTGUNS HANDGUNS
Permit to Purchase No No
Registration of Firearms No No
Licensing of Owners No No
Permit to Carry No Yes

The list and map below are included as a tool to assist you in validating your information.  We have made every effort to report the information correctly, however reciprocity and recognition agreements are subject to frequent change.  The information is not intended as legal advice or a restatement of law and does not include:  restrictions that may be placed on non-resident permits, individuals under the age of 21, qualifying permit classes, and/or any other factor which may limit reciprocity and/or recognition.  For any particular situation, a licensed local attorney must be consulted for an accurate interpretation.  YOU MUST ABIDE WITH ALL LAWS: STATE, FEDERAL AND LOCAL.

Nevada recognizes Idaho, Mississippi, and South Dakota enhanced permits only.  

Nevada only honors permits or licenses from individuals 21 years of age or older.  

STATE STATUS
Castle Doctrine Enacted
No-Net Loss No Legislation
Right to Carry Confidentiality Provisions Enacted
Right to Carry in Restaurants Legal
Right To Carry Laws Shall Issue
Right To Carry Reciprocity and Recognition Conditional Recognition
Right to Keep & Bear Arms State Constitutional Provisions With Provisions
Concealed Carry Reciprocity
Select Map
Click on a State to see the Gun Law Profile

 

Laws on Purchase, Possession and Carrying of Firearms

Purchase

No state permit is required to purchase a rifle, shotgun or handgun. 

MORE

Any person who sells or barters any pistol or revolver capable of being concealed upon the person to a child under the age of 18 years with reckless disregard of whether the child is under 18 years old, or has knowledge or reason to believe that the child is under 18 years old, is guilty of a category B felony.

LESS
Possession

No state permit is required to possess a rifle, shotgun or handgun. 

MORE

A minor under 18 years of age may not possess a firearm unless accompanied by or under the immediate charge of an adult.
It is unlawful for a person convicted of a felony to own a pistol or possess any firearm.
It is unlawful to carry or possess any firearm while on the property of the University and Community College System of Nevada or a private or public school or while in a vehicle of a private or public school without written permission.
It is unlawful to control or actually possess a firearm while intoxicated or under the influence of a controlled substance.

LESS
Carrying

It is unlawful to carry concealed upon the person a handgun or other firearm without a permit to carry.  State law does not prohibit the open carrying of a firearm, but one should exercise caution when carrying a firearm in public.

MORE

Exceptions to carrying a concealed firearm include:
1)    Sheriffs, constables, marshals, peace officers, policemen, and special police officers.
2)    Any person summoned by a peace officer to assist in making arrests or preserving the peace while actually engaged in assisting the officer.
3)    Members of the Armed Forces of the U.S. when on duty.


The sheriff shall issue a permit to carry a firearm concealed to any person qualified to possess a firearm under state and federal law who: 
•    submits an application; 
•    is at least 21 years of age;
•    is not a felon or otherwise precluded from owning a firearm;
•    has demonstrated competence with a firearm by presenting a certificate or other documentation to the sheriff which shows that applicant successfully completed a course approved by the sheriff issuing the permit, or successfully completed a course in firearm safety offered by a federal, state or local law enforcement agency, community college, university or national organization that certifies instructors in firearm safety. Such a course must include instruction in the use of each firearm to which the application pertains.


An application must be completed and signed under oath by the applicant. The signature must be witnessed by an employee of the sheriff or notarized by a notary public. The application must include:
•    the name, address, place and date of birth, social security number, occupation and employer of the applicant, 
•    a complete set of fingerprints taken by the sheriff or his agent;
•    a frontal-view colored photograph taken by the sheriff or his agent; 
•    driver’s license or identification card number issued by the department; 
•    the make, model and caliber of each authorized semiautomatic firearm to which the application pertains; permits for revolvers pertain to all revolvers owned and need not be listed separately.


Within 120 days after a complete application is submitted, the sheriff shall grant or deny the application. If the application is denied, the sheriff shall send the applicant written notification explaining the reasons for the denial. The applicant may seek judicial review of the denial by filing a petition in the district court for the county in which the applicant filed his application. A judicial review must be limited to a determination of whether the denial was arbitrary, capricious or otherwise characterized by an abuse of discretion. If the application is granted, the sheriff shall issue the permit. A permit is valid for 5 years. A non-refundable fee not to exceed $60.00 is charged.


Each permittee shall carry the permit, together with proper identification whenever the permittee is in actual possession of a concealed firearm. A permittee shall notify the sheriff who issued the permit in writing within 30 days if permanent address changes; or the permit is lost, stolen or destroyed. An application for the renewal of a permit must be completed and signed under oath by the applicant; contain a statement that the applicant is eligible to receive permit and must demonstrate competence with a firearm. The renewal fee is $25.00.


The sheriff shall deny or revoke a permit if he determines that the applicant or permittee;
•    has an outstanding warrant for his arrest; 
•    has been judicially declared incompetent or insane,
•    has been voluntarily or involuntarily admitted to a mental health facility during the immediately preceding 5 years; 
•    has habitually used intoxicating liquor or a controlled substance to the extent that his normal faculties are impaired within the previous 5 years; 
•    has been subject to any requirements imposed by a court as a condition to the court’s withholding of the entry of judgment for conviction of a felony or suspension of sentence for the conviction of a felony within the previous 5 years; 
•    has been convicted of a crime involving the use or threatened use of force or violence punishable as a misdemeanor within the previous 3 years; 
•    has been convicted of a crime involving domestic violence or stalking, or is currently subject to restraining order, injunction or other order for protection against domestic violence; and is currently on parole or probation. 
    The sheriff may deny an application or revoke a permit if he receives a sworn affidavit stating articulable facts based upon personal knowledge from any natural person who is at least 18 years of age that the applicant or permittee has or may have committed an offense or engaged in any other activity which would preclude the issuance of a permit to the applicant or require the revocation of a permit.


If the sheriff receives notification submitted by a court or law enforcement agency, that a permittee or an applicant for a permit has been charged with a crime involving the use or threatened use of force or violence, the sheriff shall revoke or suspend the permit or the processing of the application until the final disposition of the charges. If a permittee is acquitted of the charges, or if the charges are dropped, the sheriff shall restore the permit without imposing a fee.


A permittee shall not carry a concealed firearm while he is on the premises of a public building that is located on the property of:
1)    a public airport
2)    a public school or the property of the Nevada System of Higher Education, unless the permittee has obtained written permission to carry a concealed firearm while he is on the premises of the public building
3)    a public building that has a metal detector at each public entrance or a sign posted at each public entrance indicating that no firearms are allowed in the building.


Public building means any building or office space occupied by any component of the Nevada System of Higher Education and used for any purpose related to the system; or any building occupied by any federal, state, county, or city, school district or other political subdivision of the State of Nevada and used for any public purpose. If only part of the building is occupied by an entity described herein, the term means only that portion of the building which is so occupied.


It is unlawful to carry a loaded rifle or shotgun in a vehicle that is being used on a public highway. A firearm is loaded if there is an unexpended cartridge or shell in the firing chamber but not when the only cartridges or shells are in the magazine.


State law has been interpreted to allow an individual to carry a firearm in their vehicle as long as it is not actually on the person or in a container carried by the person.

LESS
Antiques and Replicas

Nevada statutes are silent on antique and replica firearms. They are treated as ordinary firearms for possession and carrying purposes.

Machine Guns

It is lawful to possess, purchase or sell a machine gun or silencer that is legally registered and possessed in compliance with all federal laws and regulations.

MORE

It is unlawful to possess, manufacture, or dispose of a rifle with a barrel under 16 inches in length, a shotgun with a barrel under 18 inches, or a rifle or shotgun with an overall length under 26 inches. Peace officers and persons licensed by the United States Department of the Treasury as importers, manufacturers, collectors or dealers are exempt.

LESS
Preemption

The Legislature reserves for itself such rights and powers as are necessary to regulate the transfer, sale, purchase, possession, ownership, transportation, registration and licensing of firearms and ammunition.

MORE

268.418. Limited authority to regulate firearms; restrictions concerning registration of firearms in city in county whose population is 400,000 or more

1. Except as otherwise provided by specific statute, the Legislature reserves for itself such rights and powers as are necessary to regulate the transfer, sale, purchase, possession, ownership, transportation, registration and licensing of firearms and ammunition in Nevada, and no city may infringe upon those rights and powers. As used in this subsection, "firearm" means any weapon from which a projectile is discharged by means of an explosive, spring, gas, air or other force.

 

2. The governing body of a city may proscribe by ordinance or regulation the unsafe discharge of firearms.

 

3. If the governing body of a city in a county whose population is 400,000 or more has required by ordinance or regulation adopted before June 13, 1989, the registration of a firearm capable of being concealed, the governing body shall amend such an ordinance or regulation to require:

(a) A period of at least 60 days of residency in the city before registration of such a firearm is required.

(b) A period of at least 72 hours for the registration of a pistol by a resident of the city upon transfer of title to the pistol to the resident by purchase, gift or any other transfer.

 

4. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 1, as used in this section:

(a) "Firearm" means any device designed to be used as a weapon from which a projectile may be expelled through the barrel by the force of any explosion or other form of combustion.

(b) "Firearm capable of being concealed" includes all firearms having a barrel less than 12 inches in length. 

(c) "Pistol" means a firearm capable of being concealed that is intended to be aimed and fired with one hand.

 

LESS
Range Protection

A shooting range does not constitute a nuisance with respect to any noise attributable to the shooting range if the shooting range is in compliance with the provisions of all applicable statutes, ordinances and regulations concerning noise.

MORE

NEV. REV. STAT. § 40. 140. Nuisance defined; action for abatement and damages; exceptions

1. Except as otherwise provided in this section:

(a) Anything which is injurious to health, or indecent and offensive to the senses, or an obstruction to the free use of property, so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property;

(b) A building or place used for the purpose of unlawfully selling, serving, storing, keeping, manufacturing, using or giving away a controlled substance, immediate precursor or controlled substance analog;

(c) A building or place which was used for the purpose of unlawfully manufacturing a controlled substance, immediate precursor or controlled substance analog and:

(1) Which has not been deemed safe for habitation by the board of health; or

(2) From which all materials or substances involving the controlled substance, immediate precursor or controlled substance analog have not been removed or remediated by an entity certified or licensed to do so within 180 days after the building or place is no longer used for the purpose of unlawfully manufacturing a controlled substance, immediate precursor or controlled substance analog; or

(d) A building or place regularly and continuously used by the members of a criminal gang to engage in, or facilitate the commission of, crimes by the criminal gang,

is a nuisance, and the subject of an action. The action may be brought by any person whose property is injuriously affected, or whose personal enjoyment is lessened by the nuisance, and by the judgment the nuisance may be enjoined or abated, as well as damages recovered.

2. It is presumed:

(a) That an agricultural activity conducted on farmland, consistent with good agricultural practice and established before surrounding nonagricultural activities is reasonable. Such activity does not constitute a nuisance unless the activity has a substantial adverse effect on the public health or safety.

(b) That an agricultural activity which does not violate a federal, state or local law, ordinance or regulation constitutes good agricultural practice.

3. A shooting range does not constitute a nuisance with respect to any noise attributable to the shooting range if the shooting range is in compliance with the provisions of all applicable statutes, ordinances and regulations concerning noise:

(a) As those provisions existed on October 1, 1997, for a shooting range in operation on or before October 1, 1997; or

(b) As those provisions exist on the date that the shooting range begins operation, for a shooting range that begins operation after October 1, 1997.

A shooting range is not subject to any state or local law related to the control of noise that is adopted or amended after the date set forth in paragraph (a) or (b), as applicable, and does not constitute a nuisance for failure to comply with any such law.

4. As used in this section:

(a) “Board of health” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 439.4797.

(b) “Controlled substance analog” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 453.043.

(c) “Criminal gang” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 193.168.

(d) “Immediate precursor” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 453. 086.

(e) “Shooting range” means an area designed and used for archery or sport shooting, including, but not limited to, sport shooting that involves the use of rifles, shotguns, pistols, silhouettes, skeet, trap, black powder or other similar items.

LESS
Miscellaneous Provisions

It is unlawful to set any “spring gun” or “trap gun”. 

MORE


It is unlawful to discharge a firearm at or into any dwelling, structure, vehicle, aircraft, or watercraft.
It is unlawful to change, alter, or remove or obliterate the serial number of any firearm. Possession of such a firearm is prima facie evidence that the possessor has changed, altered, removed or obliterated the serial number.    It is unlawful to hunt from an aircraft, helicopter or motor driven vehicle, including snowmobiles. A paraplegic hunter may shoot from any stopped motor vehicle which is not parked on the traveled portion of a public highway.
It is unlawful to discharge a firearm from, upon, or across any federal or state highway or main or general country road or in any public place where any person might be endangered thereby. 
It is unlawful to manufacture or sell any metal penetrating bullet capable of being fired from a handgun. 
No county or city may regulate the transfer, possession, registration, and licensing of firearms and ammunition.
The State of Nevada is the only governmental entity in this state that may commence a lawsuit against a manufacturer or distributor of a firearm or ammunition or a trade association related to firearms or ammunition for damages, abatement or injunctive relief resulting from or relating to the lawful design or manufacture of a firearm or ammunition or the marketing or sale of a firearm or ammunition to the public.
No person has a cause of action against the manufacturer or distributor of any firearm merely because the firearm was capable of causing serious injury, damage, or death.

LESS
Nevada NEWS
Security guard shoots gunman inside North Las Vegas 7-Eleven

Gun Laws  

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Security guard shoots gunman inside North Las Vegas 7-Eleven

A confrontation on Sunday night might have led to a deadly shooting this morning at a North Las ...

Associated Press  

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Nevada Permits Young Soldiers to Exercise Right-to-Carry

Nevada is lowering the age requirement for permits to carry concealed weapons to 18 for active-duty soldiers and ...

Man Kills Knife-Wielding Neighbor in Self-Defense Shooting

NV | CBS Local  

Thursday, May 18, 2017

Man Kills Knife-Wielding Neighbor in Self-Defense Shooting

Police are investigating the shooting death of a man who was alleged entered a neighbor’s home with a ...

Las Vegas Review-Journal  

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Nevada: Proposed ban on guns in libraries irks 2nd Amendment supporters

Senate Bill 115 would prohibit the possession of firearms in public libraries without written permission. The Assembly Judiciary ...

Man fires shot during robbery attempt outside Boulder Station

NV | Las Vegas Review Journal  

Monday, May 8, 2017

Man fires shot during robbery attempt outside Boulder Station

A man trying to sell a ring fired a shot during a robbery attempt outside Boulder Station late ...

Las Vegas Review Journal  

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Nevadans for Background Checks shifting blame for its $20M mistake

It’s much easier to look for a scapegoat than admit you made a $20 million mistake.That’s what Nevadans ...

Intruder killed in central Las Vegas robbery-home invasion

NV | Las Vegas Review Journal  

Friday, April 14, 2017

Intruder killed in central Las Vegas robbery-home invasion

One person was fatally shot Thursday morning in what Las Vegas police are calling a robbery-home invasion in ...

Nevada: Update on Firearm and Hunting Legislation

Hunting  

Sunday, April 9, 2017

Nevada: Update on Firearm and Hunting Legislation

As the policy committee deadline of April 14 approaches for the chamber of origin, below is an update on the ...

Las Vegas Review-Journal  

Thursday, April 6, 2017

Gun seizure bill reminds Nevada legislator of Tom Cruise movie

Senate Minority Leader Michael Roberson, R-Henderson, said he was concerned the bill was overly broad and may infringe ...

Free NRA-ILA Grassroots Meetings in Nevada

Take Action  

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Free NRA-ILA Grassroots Meetings in Nevada

Please join NRA-ILA staff for a FREE meeting to discuss how you can become more engaged with NRA’s ...

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.